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| Here are the twelve most ogled and googled articles
on my site this
month. Scroll down for 2025 UPDATES. |
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| 1.
Gates of the
Old City. A handy orientation to
Jerusalem’s Old City includes the history,
geography, archeology and legends about its nine
gates. A chart of the gate names in English,
Hebrew and Arabic will help you navigate its ancient
alleyways. |
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2.
Biblical
poisonous snakes are mentioned in
scripture numerous times. Isaiah used images
of three different kinds of snakes when he
prophesized against the Philistines. |
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Courtesy of
Guy Haimowitz at Wikipedia Commons |
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Isaiah referred to the
Palestinian viper in his prophecy against
the Philistines |
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3.
Born in Windsor Palace and buried on the
Mount of Olives, the
eccentric Princess Alice,
grandmother of King Charles III who
became a Greek Orthodox nun, led an
astonishing and improbable life. |
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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Princess Alice's final
request was to be buried on the Mount of
Olives |
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4. Let's empathize with
Paul at Caesarea with a
new look at chariot racing and a 2025 update |
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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The
hippodrome at Caesarea may
have been the venue of Acts 26 |
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5. Let's
tiptoe through the Valley of Gehenna
explains why one particular valley in Jerusalem
became designated as the valley leading to hell.
With a 2024 update on the new Suspension
Bridge over the valley to hell. |
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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The Valley of Gehenna in relation
to Mount Moriah and the Mount of Olives |
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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New Hanging Bridge over Gehenna,
the Valley leading to Hell |
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| 6.
Pool
of Siloam. About the 2005 discovery
of the authentic Pool of Siloam where Jesus told a
man born blind to go wash off his eyes. With a 2025
update on the unanticipated surprise of the new excavation! |
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mid-19th century
drawing |
Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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Pool of Siloam called the Virgin's
Fount |
Wrong location of the
Pool of
Siloam |
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7. Gila relates a chance encounter with one of
Israel's leading archeologists which gives her an
opportunity to ask whether the inscription on the
controversial ivory pomegranate was genuine or a
fraud. Read
Was this pomegranate ever in
Solomon's Temple? |
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The "ivory" pomegranate with an
8th c BC inscription which may or may not be forged |
Hippo skull with its incisor teeth
seen on safari in Africa |
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| 8.
Herodion Updated. During the
pandemic in March 2021, when there were no tourists in the
land, I returned to Herodion just after the
loggia, the "royal box" was opened to
the public. The theater had been
restored and the steps mentioned by Josephus
Flavius which once led up to the Upper
Palace have been reconstructed. |
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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Podium of Herod's Mausoleum with a
model of the tomb based upon Absalom's tomb |
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9. For FUN:
Ask Gila about camel riding in Jerusalem -- or
at the lowest place on earth. Scroll down for
Gila's interview with the camel....Just kidding,
with Ali, the camel keeper. |
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Photo: Gila's
iphone |
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Gila sitting on Pistachio (fistuk
halabi) at the lowest place on earth
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| 10.
Azekah
in the Valley of Elah is a former
Philistine stronghold with a perfect panorama over
the David versus Goliath battleground. Come
with Gila as she revisits the site in 2026.
It's a fairly easy climb, even when one is
recovering from a complex, traumatic ankle injury. |
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Photo:
Hana Kessler |
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On the summit of Tel Azeka,
January 2026 surrounded by a burst of anemones |
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| 11.
Absalom was David's unrepentant rebellious son who
according to folk tradition was buried in
Jerusalem's Kidron Valley. "Let's
throw stones at Absalom's Tomb" separates
myth from fact. |
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12. Let's shout AMEN at
Joshua's Altar on Mount Ebal.
Astonishing headlines about the retrieval of
a “curse tablet” from a pile of earth turned
over by excavators at Mount Ebal, the “mount
of curses,” sent Gila scurrying back 22
years down memory lane to a day spent with
the chief archeologist of the site, Adam
Zertal. |
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Photo
courtesy of Wikipedia Commons |
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The walls of Joshua's
altar were intact up to six feet (2 meters)
in height |
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Most popular
UPDATED 2025 posts |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Did
David ever see a leopard in the
Wilderness of Judea while tending the sheep?
About the most notorious leopards in the
wilderness of Judea in the late 20th
century. |
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The Pool of Siloam served as
a monumental dam 800 years before
Jesus to deal with erratic climate
conditions: prolonged periods of
drought and sudden flash floods. |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Excavation of the Pool of Siloam
in February 2025 |
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Which was the most popular chariot team in
the Holy Land during the Roman and Byzantine
periods? Hint: it wasn't the "Greens".
The answer is in a mosaic found in front of
a shop in Beth Shean. Check out my
article "Paul
at Caesarea." |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Victory to the........!
mosaic discovered at the entrance to a shop
in Beth Shean |
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Ask Gila why are the men wearing sackcloth
sheds light on the ancient biblical custom
of mourning and supplication. |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Scene in the courtyard of
King David's tomb the day before Purim |
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Flash bulletin May 2025: Flash
floods cause widespread havoc at
En
Gedi.
Scroll down the article for the flash
bulletin about the closure of the En Gedi
Nature Preserve. |
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