THE NAKED ARCHAEOLOGIST ISRAEL TOUR 2016
with Simcha Jacobovici
Date: December 04, 2016 - December 15, 2016Led by: Simcha Jacobovici
Guided by: Eitan Chamberlin
Guaranteed Departure!
Join Simcha Jacobovici on this incredible VIP 10 Day/9 Night tour on land in excellent accommodations throughout (visit links in the itinerary).
Check out Simcha's promotional YouTube video for the tour.
This is your opportunity to get to know Simcha Jacobovici, the Naked Archaeologist, one-on-one.
Simcha Jacobovici has produced, directed and starred in dozens of important documentaries as an investigative journalist. He recently won the the 2014 Donald Brittain Award for Best Canadian Documentary, as well as the 2013 Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards Gold Dolphin in the category of "Science & Knowledge" for the documentary "Resurrection Tomb Mystery." Read about his new 'controversial' book: The Lost Gospel and his new series on the Discovery Science Channel: Biblical Conspiracies.
Download the full brochure here.
Want to know about future dates? Fill out the FOLLOW THIS TOUR form off to the right!
Day 1 - Sunday - December 4th, 2016 - (B/D)
- Welcome Service & Escort to our coach is provided. You will be greeted by our airport representative immediately after Passport Control
- Private transfer to your hotel
- Check-in to Pre-Arrival Hotel: Sheraton Tel Aviv
Day 2 - Monday - December 5th, 2016 - (B/D)
- 10:00 – Pickup at the Sheraton for all Pre-Arrival members. Note: Please be sure that your luggage has already been brought down to the lobby area where we will meet.
- 10:20 – Departure from Tel Aviv
- Visit Caesarea Maritima and meet the figures of Herod the Great, Pontius Pilate, the apostle Paul, Eusebius and many other legendary figures while standing in the Roman Theatre, the Hippodrome and the Aqueduct.
- Lunch (included)
- Visit the ancient Phoencian city of Tel Dor to learn about the process of making ancient blue dye (tkhellet)
- Enjoy the evening, resting by the Mediterranean Sea
- 19:00 – Dinner by the Sea
- 20:00 -21:00 – Kick Start the tour with an overview by our host: Simcha Jacobovici
- Overnight & Dinner: Dor Nahsholim (Boutique Wing)
Day 3 - Tuesday - December 6th, 2016 - (B/D)
- Experience Mt. Carmel at the place where Elijah fought the prophets of Baal
- Visit the infamous Tel Megiddo and the Valley of Armageddon
- See Beit Shearim, the Necropolis of the Rabbis
- Have a brief stop at Bethlehem of the Galilee to discuss the possibilities of this being the real place where Jesus was born.
- End the day with a visit to Moshav Zippori where we’ll meet with Mitch Pilcer, owner of Ziporri Village, and the discoverer of the tomb of Rabbi Yehoshua Bar Levi.
- Drive via Cana of Galilee
- Overnight & Dinner: Kibbutz Nof Ginosar (Grand Deluxe)
Day 4 - Wednesday - December 7th, 2016 - (B/D)
- 08:15 - Walk in the Arbel Pass (Jesus’ passageway to the Galilee)
- 09:00 - Explore the newly recovered remains of Magdala
- 10:30 - Experience a wooden boat ride on the Sea of Galilee
- Visit the 1st century ‘Galilee boat at Ginosar’s Yigal Allon Museum.
- Enjoy lunch on your own at a Fish Restaurant by the Sea of Galilee
- See the Tomb of the Centurion, a rarely known site at Capernaum
- Visit Tel Bethsaida (home to 5 of the 12 disciples and where Simcha excavates)
- End the day visiting the archaeological remains at Capernaum, Jesus’ ‘home’ in the Galilee
- Time permitting, we’ll try to visit the Byzantine site of Kursi (in the land of the Gerasenes)
- Overnight & Dinner: Kibbutz Nof Ginosar (Grand Deluxe)
Day 5 - Thursday - December 8th, 2016 - (B/D)
- We’ll start the day at the Tomb of Honi the Circle Maker
- Next, we’ll see Tel Hazor (see the 12th century destruction of the Canaanite palace)
- We’ll have thorough visit to Tel Dan (The Israelite Gate, Jeroboam’s Temple & The Arch of Abraham)
- After a Lebanese-style falafel lunch, we’ll stop by Caesarea Phillipi (the Temple of Pan)
- Next, we’ll look-out over the ‘Road to Damascus’ from the Golan Heights
- We’ll end the day bathing in the ancient hot springs and sulfur pools of Hamat Gader
- Overnight & Dinner: Kibbutz Nof Ginosar (Grand Deluxe)
Day 6 - Friday - December 9th, 2016 - (B/D)
- Drive southward through the Jordan Valley.
- Stop by Qasr el-Yahud (Bethany Beyond the Jordan), a more probable place for John’s baptisms
- Explore Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and see some of the less-known parts of the site.
- Visit the Ein Gedi Synagogue and see where David hid from Saul in what today is called the David Ravine
- Before Sabbath, check in to our Dead Sea Hotel
- Enjoy the rest of your evening relaxing in the Dead Sea or your hotel’s private spa.
- Overnight & Dinner: Dead Sea, David Dead Sea Resort & Spa
Day 7 - Saturday - December 10th, 2016 - (B/D)
- Morning Relaxation at your beautiful Dead Sea hotel with a private beach and spa
- In the afternoon, choose to have an optional visit to Mt. Sodom. Here you’ll have the option (additional cost) to enjoy a private jeep ride.
- Overnight & Dinner: Dead Sea, David Dead Sea Resort & Spa
Reminder: Simcha will not be touring during the day due to Sabbath observance.
Day 8 - Sunday - December 11th, 2016 - (B/D)
- Have the option to either hike up or take the 1-way cable car up Masada
- Tour of Walk down the Roman Rampart
- 11:00 Have a Bedouin style welcome, lunch (hafla) and camel ride in the Judean Desert
- Drive via the outskirts of Beer Sheva
- 14:30 - End the day participating in an actual archaeological dig and tunnel crawl at the magnificent Beit Guvrin. For those who don’t want to get too dirty, you will have the option instead to simply tour the site with your guide.
- As we enter Jerusalem we’ll have night view lookout over the Old City
- Overnight & Dinner: Jerusalem, Dan Jerusalem (Deluxe)
Day 9 - Monday - December 12th, 2016 - (B/L/)
- 07:15 – Early departure to ascend the Temple Mount
- Meet special guest: Gabi Barkay
- Visit the Southern Wall Excavations (Davidson Center) and see the in situ ruins of the Second Temple
- Behold the 1st century remains of the Herodian Quarter in the heart of the modern-day Jewish Quarter
- Lunch in the Jewish Quarter at the Old Quarter Café (kosher)
- 13:00 - With a VIP visit the Western Wall Tunnels
- 15:00 - Journey through the City of David (David’s Fortress to Hezekiah’s Tunnel & the Pool of Siloam)
- Enjoy an evening for dinner out on your own to experience Jerusalem by night or order conveniently from your hotel’s bar or room service
- Overnight: Jerusalem, Dan Jerusalem (Deluxe)
Day 10 - Tuesday - December 13th, 2016 - (B/D)
- Lookout from the Mt. of Olives
- Walk down the Mt. of Olives to Dominus Flevit and the Garden of Gethsamene.
- Enter the Old City of Jerusalem through Lion’s Gate
- 10:00 - Visit the Church of the Flagellation at Station #1 of the Via Dolorosa and visit the Franciscan “Antonia” Museum at that site.
- Walk along much of the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
- Lunch in the Jewish Quarter at the Old Quarter Café (kosher)
- Exit the Old City via Jaffa Gate
- 14:30 – Emeq Zurim Sifting Project with special guest: Gabi Barkay
- Overnight & Dinner: Jerusalem, Dan Jerusalem (Deluxe)
Day 11 - Wednesday - December 14th, 2016 - (B/D)
- 09:00 - Visit the ‘Abba’ tomb in Jerusalem at the home of Raphael Delarosa
- Visit the approximate location of the Jesus Family Tomb in Talpiot (The Lost Tomb of Jesus)
- Peruse the Israel Museum (the Shrine of the Book and the Biblical Archaeology Museum)
- Walk in the Elah Valley and see the story of David vs. Goliath come to life.
- See Khirbet Qeiyafa (biblical Sha’arayim?), one of the most recent Biblical Archaeology excavations that centers on early Israelite presence at the site
- Stand on Tel Beth Shemesh where the Ark of the Covenant was returned by the Philistines
- 18:00 End our journey with a fabulous, full-course dinner together at Regina Restaurant (Old Train Station, Tel Aviv)
- 19:30 – Transfer to airport
- Return Home on any of the evening flights (most flights depart between 11pm and 1 am.
NOTE: You may choose to stay an extra night or two in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. Please see the add-ons in your My Account or contact us for more information.
Day 12 - Thursday - December 15th, 2016 - (B/)
- Arrive home

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