This photograph shows a page from the Codex Vaticanus, which was created in the 4th century CE and is arguably the most important ancient manuscript of the Greek Bible. Codex Vaticanus originally contained both the Old and the New Testaments, but only 759 of the original 820 pages have survived. However, it is an extremely high quality text and it serves as the basis for a number of authoritative editions of the Bible. It was acquired by the Vatican in the 15th century CE.
Jerusalem: Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Dome of the Rock
This photograph, looking east, shows the proximity of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (the two domes in the foreground) to the Dome of the Rock (in the background). The Mount of Olives and the Arab village of Et Tur (the smaller of the two towers on the hilltop) is in the distance. The large dome within the complex of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the Anastasis ('raising up'), and underneath it is the traditional location of Jesus' tomb. The smaller dome is over the main altar in the church's basilica and the place that many Christians believed was the 'navel of the earth'. The long rectangular roofed structure beyond them that looks a bit like the peaked roof a barn or a warehouse is the Chapel of St. Helena. To the right of the Anastasis Dome is a square, bulky tower from the period of the Crusades; to its right is the thin and tall minaret tower of the Mosque of Omar; just behind it is the whitish tall, square and pointed bell tower of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, a relatively new church build by the German Kaiser in 1893.
Jerusalem: The Western Wall/Wailing Wall
This photograph shows the proximity of the Western Wall (sometimes called the Wailing Wall) to the Dome of the Rock. The Western Wall, at the center of the photograph, is the western wall of the Temple Mount that was built by Herod the Great and on top of which stood the Jewish Temple prior to 70 CE. It is often considered to be one of the holiest sites in Judaism. Above and to the left is the Dome of the Rock, which stands over a section of bedrock that Muslims believe is that last place that the Prophet Muhammad stood before embarking on his Night Journey. It is usually considered to be the third holiest site in Islam. The gray dome to the right is the Al Aqsa Mosque, which sits at the southern end of the Temple Mount. In the background is the Mount of Olives.
This photograph of the modern city of Nazareth, in Lower Galilee, shows the Church of the Annunciation, which was originally built in the 4th century CE by Helen, the mother of the emperor Constantine. It stands over the place where, according to Catholic tradition, Mary stood when an angel announced to her that she was pregnant with Jesus as a result of God's divine intervention. The current building is from the 1960s but it stands over archaeological remains of a Crusader church and other ancient structures.
Hammat Tiberias: the synagogue mosaic floor - central panel
This photograph shows the central panel of the mosaic floor in the fourth century synagogue at Hammat Tiberias. The stones running through the middle of it are a later wall that was built in such a way as to destroy the mosaic. At the center of the mosaic floor (the section that the wall runs through) is a zodiac with figures corresponding to the 12 months of the year. At the four corners are figural depictions of the four seasons. The arrow points to the figure in the middle of the zodiac, which is the sun god Helios. In the panel above the zodiac there is a depiction of the Temple in Jerusalem and Temple implements. Underneath the zodiac is a Greek inscription flanked by two lions, honoring the donors of the synagogue.
Jerusalem: Dome of the Rock - interior view
This photograph of the interior of the Dome of the Rock shows the symmetry of the architectural plan and the lavish geometric decoration adorning the walls and arches. Beneath the dome, at the center of the structure (just on the other side of the brown wooden barrier) is the bedrock called the Sakhra. In Islamic tradition and belief, this is the last place that the Prophet Muhammad touched the earth before he was taken on his Night Journey. Much of the artistry of the 7th-century Byzantine craftsmen is preserved here from the original building period, with major supplements and restorations by the Crusaders in the 12th century and Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century. For centuries the Dome of the Rock was misnamed the Mosque of Omar. Omar did erect a simple wooden mosque at the site, but that was replaced by his successor Caliph Abd al-Malik, who commissioned the present octagonal shrine, which was begun in 687 CE and completed in 691 CE.
This is a photograph of the interior of the dome that sits on the Dome of the Rock. It was planned as a deliberate imitation of the vault over the Anastasis of the Holy Sepulchre; even the size of this hemisphere is within a few feet of the Sepulchre's dome. It was the caliph's intention to raise a building that would be in the architectural tradition established by Constantine but would far outshine its Christian predecessor.
Hammat Tiberias: the synagogue mosaic floor - top panel
This photograph shows the upper panel of the mosaic floor in the center of the fourth century synagogue at Hammat Tiberias. It is the last panel that a worshipper would see/walk across as he walked toward the standing Torah shrine on the southern wall of the synagogue. In this panel we see the main doors of the Temple in Jerusalem, which may resemble also the ark of the Torah in the synagogue, flanked by two 7-branched menorahs. In the area below each menorah are a lulav (a palm branch bound with myrtle and willow) and an etrog (a citron), both ritual objects important for the festival of Sukkot, as well as a shofar (ram's horn) and an incense shovel.
Jerusalem: Dome of the Rock and the Dome of the Spirits
This photograph, taken from the top of the Temple Mount platform, shows the Dome of the Rock in the background and the Dome of the Spirits in the foreground. The Dome of the Spirits is one of several lesser shrines that dot the top of the Temple Mount platform. According to Muslim accounts this small cupola marks the place where Mohammad conversed with the earlier Hebrew and Christian prophets. It is commonly called the Dome of the Spirits because this is also where Mohammad will summon the souls of the faithful on Judgment Day. There is an intriguing alternative interpretation of this smaller dome. It has another name: Dome of the Tablets, and it sits due west of the Golden Gate (the eastern entrance into the Second Temple's courts). This name and location has led some to suggest that it memorializes the site of the Holy of Holies in the Second Temple.
This photograph of the Dome of the Rock shows its octagonal structure and its golden dome. Beneath the dome, at the center of the structure is the bedrock called the Sakhra. For centuries it was misnamed the Mosque of Omar. Omar did erect a simple wooden mosque at the site, but that was replaced by his successor Caliph Abd al-Malik, who commissioned the present octagonal shrine, which was begun in 687 CE and completed in 691 CE.
Jerusalem: Temple Mount, Dome of the Rock, and Al Aqsa Mosque
This photograph of the Temple Mount shows the relationship of the Dome of the Rock (the Kubbat as-Sakhra) to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Together they make up the Haram esh-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), the Islamic sanctuary created in the days of the Umayyad Dynasty (in the 7th century CE).
Jerusalem: Temple Mount - phases of the Sakhra
This 3-dimensional reconstruction of the Temple Mount shows the various stages of construction, as well as the piece of bedrock (the Sakhra) that sits at the center of the Dome of the Rock (the Kubbat as Sakhra).
This close-up of the Dome of the Rock shows the beauty and riches of its present decoration. It was commissioned by Abd al-Malik in 687 CE and completed in 691 CE. Suleiman the Magnificent carried out extensive restorations of the building in the 16th century, but the gold sheathing had not survived the Middle Ages. An unattractive lead dome crowned the shrine until modern restorations began in 1958, when the building received its present golden-colored roof of bronze-aluminum alloy.
This photograph shows the Dome of the Rock (Arabic: "Kubbat as Sakhra") looking east. For centuries it was misnamed the Mosque of Omar. Omar did erect a simple wooden mosque at the site, but that was replaced by his successor Caliph Abd al-Malik, who commissioned the present octagonal shrine, which was begun in 687 CE and completed in 691 CE. In the background, to the right, you can see the Mount of Olives with its ancient Jewish cemetery on the slopes. The distant bell tower is from the Russian Monastery of the Ascension and the onion-shaped domes just to the left of the Dome of the Rock belong to the Russian Church of St. Mary Magdalene, built in the 19th century. In the forefront are houses of the Old City of Jerusalem.
This photograph shows the Arch of Titus, which was erected near the eastern entrance to the Forum of the city of Rome to commemorate Titus's defeat of the Jews and the taking of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The inscription at the top reads 'The Roman Senate and People (dedicate this) to the divine Titus Vespasianus Augustus, son of the divine Vespasian.'
Jerusalem: Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock
This aerial view of the Temple Mount, which is looking west, shows not just the massive Temple Mount complex with its retaining walls and the Dome of the Rock, but also the Al Aqsa Mosque (to the left, at the south end of the Temple Mount complex). Note the flat surface of huge stone slabs that makes up the Temple Mount, which was an artificial creation of King Herod and his engineers. Beyond the Temple Mount is the Old City of Jerusalem.
This photograph shows a close-up of one of the panels of the mosaic floor in the 6th century CE synagogue at Beit Alpha. The panel tells the story of the Akedah, or the binding of Isaac (Genesis 22:1-19). At the left two servants stand with a beast of burden. At the right the altar blazes up, while Abraham (whose name appears in Hebrew above and to the left of his head) holds the knife in his right hand and Isaac (also labeled in Hebrew) in his left hand. In the center a ram stands tethered to a bush. The Hebrew above its head reads, 'And behold, a ram' (Genesis 22:13). Above the bush the hand of the angel of the Lord emerges from a cloud and the command 'Do not send forth [your hand]' (Genesis 22:12) appears below the hand. Underneath the main panel, between the lion and the ram, is a dual language inscription, in Greek and Aramaic. The first commemorates the artists who made the inscription and the second refers to the donations made toward its costs. The Aramaic inscription dates the event to the days of 'King Justin.' Two emperors by that name reigned in the sixth century.
Hammat Tiberias: the synagogue mosaic floor - central panel close-up
This photograph shows a close-up of the figure at the center of the zodiac that is in the central panel of the mosaic floor in the fourth century synagogue at Hammat Tiberias. This very fine mosaic shows a depiction of the sun god Helios riding his chariot above the sea. His right arm is raised in blessing and in his left arm he holds the orb of the universe, an emblem of his sovereign power.
Jerusalem: Dome of the Rock - fish-eye view of the interior
This fish-eye photograph was taken inside the Dome of the Rock. Above you can see the intricate artistic styling that decorates the underside of the dome; below you can see the section of bedrock around which the building was built. Muslims believe that this rock was the place from which the Prophet Muhammad left on his Night Journey.
Washington, DC: The Oslo Accords - Yitzhak Rabin, Bill Clinton, and Yassir Arafat
This famous photograph shows the handshake between Yitzhak Rabin, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yassir Arafat, the Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, after signing the Declaration of Principles of the Oslo Peace Accords at the White House in Washington, D.C.
This is a photograph of Yitzhak Rabin, who was the Israeli Prime Minister who signed the Oslo Peace Accords with Yassir Arafat (the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization) in 1993. He was assassinated in 1995 by a Israeli man who was opposed to the Oslo Accords.
During the Hellenistic period (332-63 BCE) the city of Beth Shean enjoyed a revival and came to be known as Scythopolis, or 'City of the Scythians', perhaps as a result of a unit of the Scythian cavalry in the army of Ptolemy II Philadelphus. During the 2nd century BCE it was also known as Nyssa, after the nurse of the god Dionysus, as legend says that she was buried here. The city fell into Jewish hands when it was conquered by the Hasmonaean king John Hyrcanus (134-104 BCE) but fell to Rome in 63 BCE. Josephus mentions Scythopolis as the capital of the Decapolis (the league of 10 cities). In this picture you can see the theater, which seated 8,000, the long colonnaded main street, and other public buildings.
Julius Caesar was a Roman general, statesman, Consul, and author. Over the course of his military career he gained unmatched military power. When the Senate ordered him to lay down his arms and return to Rome, he refused and instead led a legion back to Rome, illegally entering Roman territory under arms. A civil war resulted, from which Caesar emerged as the unrivaled leader. This set a precedent for a sole leader to rule the Roman empire (previous to this Rome had been governed by a republic), and Julius Caesar's reign marks the historical transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire. He was famously assassinated on the Ides of March (that is, March 15), 44 BCE.
This is a photograph of the synagogue of the ancient city of Tiberias. Several synagogues were built on this site over the centuries; much of the architecture that you see here dates to the 5th-8th centuries CE. The mosaic floor that you will see in other photographs dates to the 4th century CE.
Edward Gibbon, pictured here, was an English historian and a member of the British Parliament. He wrote a 6-volume work called The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire between 1776-1788. Although he was widely criticized for treating Christianity as a historical phenomenon and being critical of Christianity's negative effects on the Roman Empire, his work was widely praised for its style of prose and its use of primary sources. It was one of the most influential works on ancient Rome for over 100 years.
This portrait—part of a mosaic floor found in the archaeological excavations at Beit-Shean—depicts Tyche (also known as Fortuna), the goddess of fortune. She wears a crown in the shape of the city walls and holds a horn full with fruit and vegetables representing the well-being of the city.
This bronze coin, which was minted in Rome in 71 CE after the Romans captured Jerusalem, features the profile of the Emperor Vespasian on the recto (left), and, on the verso (right), a Roman soldier standing over a mourning woman who symbolizes the defeated Judaea. Between them is a palm tree. The inscription around these two figures reads IUDEA CAPTA, Latin for 'captured Judaea.'
Jerusalem: Lithograph of the Ecce Homo Arch
This 19th century lithograph shows two of three arches (there would have been another small arch on the right side of the large arch), which is typical of arches built during Hadrian's time. Arches built during Herod's time were typically double arches. In addition, the northern pier of the arch was found to sit on bedrock, with pavement running up against it (so the pavement must have been laid after the arch was built) and the pavement was found to have also lie directly over a huge cistern that Josephus said was open at the time of the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. So the arch must have been built afterwards. The conclusion? This lithograph depicts the arch that Hadrian built; some scholars believe it led to the east forum of the city.
This picture shows the Ecce Homo arch, which was the large central arch of Hadrian's east forum. It stands over the Via Dolorosa in the Old City of Jerusalem outside the Sisters of Zion Convent. Note how more modern buildings have been built around and on top of it and have incorporated the arch into their architecture.
Rome: The Arch of Titus - detail of the interior
This photograph shows details of the relief carving under the Arch of Titus, located near the eastern entrance to the Forum in Rome. The arch was erected by emperor Domitian, Titus' brother, to honor and commemorate the defeat of the Jews and the capture and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Depicted on the relief is the triumphal procession after Titus' return to Rome, which included the golden menorah and other implements that were taken from the Temple.
This is a portrait of an Ottoman soldier. He carries a long rifle and has a pouch for gunpowder. The hat on his head is called a tarboosh.
This photograph shows a street of the Old City of Jerusalem today. People still use the same layout as Suleiman's city.
This map was found to be part of the mosaic floor of a 6th century CE church in Madaba, Jordan (east of the Dead Sea), and includes this map of Byzantine Jerusalem. A broad, column-lined street runs from the north gate south through the center of the city (called a cardo, it is a common feature of Graeco-Roman cities). At its northern end is the Damascus Gate. The Damascus Gate that we see today was built in the Ottoman period, but archaeologists have found a Hadrianic Gate beneath it (117-134 CE), and the Madaba Map, shown here, depicts its existence in the 6th century CE. It is interesting to note that the Arabic name for the Damascus Gate is Bab el-'Amud ('Gate of the Column'). Note the depiction of the northern gate and column in the Madaba Map.
Palestine at the end of the 19th century CE: Map
This map shows the number of Arab villages on the eve of the arrival of the first Zionist colonies in the late 1800s. As you can see, Palestine was widely and fairly densely populated, which conflicts with Zionist claims about the land being largely empty. Note, however, the less populated areas.
This map of Jerusalem has a circle around the location of the modern Damascus Gate, one of the northern gates into the Old City of Jerusalem. The modern gate, which was built during the Ottoman period, sits atop a Roman gate that was built in the time of Hadrian (117-138 CE). We also know that this was the location of the gate from the Madaba map, a map that was found in the mosaic floor of a Byzantine church.
A look from the north at the Damascus Gate, which is one of the northern gates into the Old City of Jerusalem. The gate that you see at the center of the photograph, as well as the walls to its right and left, are Ottoman in date, built by Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566). To the left and below that gate you can also see a lower entrance into the Old City wall (in the shadow of the bridge coming out of the Damascus Gate). That gate is the Roman-period gate into the Old City, built during the time of Hadrian (117-138 CE). Beyond the walls are the buildings of the Muslim Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem.
This map shows the extent of the British Mandate of Palestine, which includes Palestine and Transjordan. Note that Syria was a French mandated territory after WWI.
Cairo: Winston Churchill and Emir Abdulla
This photograph shows Winston Churchill (second from right), who was at that time the British Colonial Secretary, meeting with Emir Abdullah of Transjordan (fourth from right) and Sir Herbert Samuel (between them), who was the High Commissioner of Palestine. They met in Cairo in 1921 to decide what to do with the Middle East. One of the decisions made was to give a large chunk of British-controlled territory to King Feisal of Iraq and another to the Hashemite family of Jordan.
These two photographs show the actual T. E. Lawrence (on the left) and the other of the actor Peter O'Toole, who played Lawrence in the famous movie Lawrence of Arabia. T. E. Lawrence was a British Army officer who was trained as an archaeologist before enlisting in the British Army after the start of World War I. As an officer he fought with the Arab irregular troops under the command of Emir Faisal. He convinced them to coordinate their actions in support of British strategy. He was involved in the capture of Aqaba and the fall of Damascus.
This is a photograph of Anwar Sadat, the third President of Egypt. He was the first Arab leader to visit Israel in 1977 and he signed a peace treaty with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1979, following the Camp David Accords. He was assassinated by an Egyptian Army lieutenant in 1981.
This is a famous photograph of Theodor Herzl at the First World Jewish Congress, looking over the Rhine in Basel, Switzerland. He was born in Hungary and became the founding leader of the Zionist movement. In 1895-1896, he wrote a seminal piece Der Judenstaat ("The Jewish State"); the English version was published in 1896 in London. He also founded Die Welt in 1898 as well as planned the Zionist Council, being elected its President in that same year. Over the next six years he advanced the cause of the Jewish people. He died in 1904.
This map shows the Rhodes Armistice Line, which delineated Israel from Transjordan after the 1948-1949 War. The armistice line provided Israel with the area that is shaded blue; the West Bank and Gaza were given to Jordan and Egypt, respectively, which were subsequently captured during the 1967 Six-Day War and occupied by the Israeli military to the present day.
This photograph shows the British General Edmund Allenby entering Jerusalem after the British took the city in World War I. He dismounted and walked into the city out of respect for it and in contradistinction to the German Emperor Wilhelm II's entry into the city on horseback in 1898. He is entering the city through the Jaffa gate, seen at the back. To the left one can see the clock tower that was built by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II in 1908; the British knocked it down in 1922 and it was never rebuilt.
Chaim Weitzman was the first President of Israel. Prior to his presidency, he is widely credited as the one who convinced the British Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour to create the Balfour Declaration; he was also instrumental in its drafting. He generated wide-spread support for the establishment of a State of Israel. In this picture he is meeting Amir Feisal, one of the prominent Arab leaders of the time, in an attempt to reach a settlement between Jews and Arabs regarding the settlement of Palestine in the wake of World War I.
This painting, called Napoleon At The Pesthouse of Jaffa, was painted by Antoine-Jean Gros in 1804. It is a fantastical representation of Napoleon meeting lepers when he arrived at Jaffa after being beat in battle by Jazzar Pasha.
In this view from the hill of Hattin, looking NE, the cliffs of Mt. Arbel and the Sea of Galilee are in the background. The valley to the left of Arbel is the valley that the army of Saladin climbed from Tiberias to the plateau underneath Hattin where the battle took place. On Arbel we see the modern moshav of Arbel; in the plateau between Arbel and Hattin is Moshav Kfar Zeitim.
This is a painting of Jazzar Pasha. He was a Serbian Ottoman soldier who defected and created his own mini-kingdom in Galilee that lasted for approximately 30 years. He successfully defended Acco against Napoleon in 1799. This is a painting of him holding court in Acco.
On this map the red circle surrounds the site of the Battle of Hattin, which took place on a small plateau to the west of the city of Tiberias. To the right is the northwest tip of the Sea of Galilee and to the north are the hills and peaks of Upper Galilee (in the background).
This picture provides a close look at the Galilee region, and highlights the 3 important sites for the Battle of Hattin (on July 4, 1187) between the Crusaders and Saladin. The red circle delineates the port city of Acre, where the Crusaders gathered. The yellow circle is the Crusader city of Tiberias which had fallen to Saladin and was a gathering point for Saladin's army. The green circle is around springs of Sepphoris, where the Crusaders rested the night before the march toward the battle began.
This photograph shows a close-up of the fortifications around Nimrod's Castle, including the main defensive wall and its rounded towers. The castle is located in the modern-day northern Golan Heights, on the southern slopes of Mt. Hermon, and guards the route from Tyre to Damascus. Major additions to the fortress were made in 1229 CE under the Ayyubid dynasty to guard against an invasion of Damascus by the Christian Crusaders. The view looks northeast.