Author Archives: Taylor Halverson

The Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Galilee, Israel
What Is There to See in Nazareth?

A hillside town of a few hundred people in the first century is now the [...]

23
Oct
The Old City of Jerusalem viewed from the terrace of the BYU Jerusalem Center
What Is the BYU Jerusalem Center?

A building of white arches on the slope of Mount Scopus, looking straight across at [...]

22
Oct
The Old City of Jerusalem at sunset, Israel
What Are the Four Quarters of the Old City?

Jerusalem’s walled city covers about a third of a square mile and holds four communities, [...]

21
Oct
The excavated stepped street and pool area at the Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem, with a canopy over the dig and the houses of Silwan rising behind
What Is the Pool of Siloam?

For centuries pilgrims were shown a small Byzantine pool. Then a sewer repair crew broke [...]

20
Oct
The Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel
Can I Visit the Dome of the Rock?

The golden dome you photograph from every rooftop in Jerusalem is a shrine built in [...]

19
Oct
Panoramic view of the Old City of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives
Why Visit the Mount of Olives?

One overlook explains the whole city. The same ridge is where Jesus came down on [...]

17
Oct
The ruins of the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem
What Is the Pool of Bethesda?

John describes a pool with five porches. For centuries that was treated as symbolism rather [...]

16
Oct
The Southern Steps leading up to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem
What Are the Southern Steps?

Almost every site in Jerusalem comes with a qualification. The staircase into the temple comes [...]

15
Oct
Aerial view of the excavated site of Sepphoris in the Lower Galilee, showing the Roman theatre cut into the hillside and the remains of the town above it
What Is Sepphoris, and Did Jesus Ever Go There?

The capital of Galilee sat an hour’s walk from Nazareth and was being rebuilt from [...]

14
Oct
The ridge of Gamla in the Golan Heights, with the excavated synagogue and town wall visible on the slope below the summit
What Is Gamla, and Why Is It Called the Masada of the North?

A first-century Jewish town on a ridge shaped like a camel’s back, destroyed by Rome [...]

13
Oct
View of Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee in Israel
Why Does the Sea of Galilee Have a Roman Emperor’s Name?

Herod Antipas built Tiberias on a graveyard, and observant Jews avoided it. Centuries later it [...]

12
Oct
The Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights seen across the Galilee region of Israel
What Is Chorazin, and Why Was It Cursed?

Jesus named three towns in a single warning. Two of them are famous. The third [...]

10
Oct
The excavated synagogue at Magdala on the Sea of Galilee, with its stone benches, a standing column and a carved stone block at the centre of the hall
What Was Found at Magdala?

In 2009, workers preparing to build a hotel on the shore of Galilee uncovered a [...]

09
Oct
The colonnaded street at Beth Shean with the tell rising behind it, a row of columns still standing along the paved way
What Is Beth Shean?

A mound holding twenty layers of cities sits above the largest excavated Roman town in [...]

08
Oct
Panoramic view of the caves of Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, Israel
What Is Qumran, and What Are the Dead Sea Scrolls?

A modest ruin above the Dead Sea, eleven caves, and the manuscripts that closed a [...]

07
Oct
The preserved hull of the first-century Galilee boat displayed in a darkened museum gallery, its wooden ribs and planking lit from above
What Is the Galilee Boat?

A drought in 1986 dropped the lake far enough to expose a fishing boat buried [...]

06
Oct
Panoramic view of the Sea of Galilee from its eastern shore, northern Israel
Where Was Bethsaida?

The hometown of Peter, Andrew, and Philip has two candidate sites about a mile and [...]

05
Oct
The mud-brick Canaanite gate at Tel Dan, one of the oldest arched gateways in the world, northern Israel
What Is Tel Dan, and Why Does It Matter to Old Testament History?

A gate you can walk through that was built four centuries before Moses, the altar [...]

03
Oct
The southwest face of the Carmel ridge at sunset, seen across farmland from the coastal plain
What Happened on Mount Carmel?

Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a contest about rain, during a drought, on [...]

02
Oct
Ancient mudbrick ruins at the site of Jericho
What Can You See at Jericho?

The oldest walled town yet found sits beside a spring in the Jordan Valley, and [...]

01
Oct
The Valley of Elah in winter, looking across green fields toward the surrounding hills of the Shephelah
Where Did David Face Goliath?

The Valley of Elah is a real place with two named hills, a brook full [...]

30
Sep
Ancient ruins of Megiddo, the site the book of Revelation names Armageddon, Israel
What Is Megiddo, and Is It Really Armageddon?

More armies have fought at this one hill than almost anywhere on earth, and the [...]

29
Sep
Panoramic view of the Caesarea Maritima coastline and its ancient Roman ruins, Israel
Why Did Herod Build a Harbor at Caesarea?

He built a world-class port on a coastline with no natural harbor, using concrete that [...]

28
Sep
Panoramic view of Masada from Mount Ben Yair with the Dead Sea beyond
What Is Masada?

A desert palace, a Roman siege you can still see from the top, and a [...]

26
Sep
Caesarea Philippi at Banias, northern Israel
Why Did Jesus Take His Disciples to Caesarea Philippi?

Jesus walked His disciples roughly thirty miles north, to the most aggressively pagan place in [...]

25
Sep
The Church of the Beatitudes above the Sea of Galilee, traditional site of the Sermon on the Mount
Where Was the Sermon on the Mount?

One Gospel puts the sermon on a mountain and another puts it on a level [...]

24
Sep
The white limestone synagogue at Capernaum, Israel
What Can You See at Capernaum?

Jesus made this fishing village His base of operations, and two buildings a hundred feet [...]

23
Sep
Inside Hezekiah's Tunnel beneath Jerusalem, Israel
What Is Hezekiah’s Tunnel?

A quarter-mile water channel cut through solid rock in a hurry, around 701 BC, still [...]

22
Sep
Panoramic view of the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem at sunset
What Is the Western Wall?

The wall is a surviving piece of the platform Herod built to enlarge the temple [...]

21
Sep
Ruins on the slopes of the Kidron Valley seen from the steps to Hezekiah's Tunnel, Jerusalem
What Is the City of David?

Original Jerusalem was a narrow ridge outside today's Old City walls, smaller than many shopping [...]

19
Sep
The Temple Mount, also known as Mount Moriah, in the Old City of Jerusalem
Where Exactly Did the Temple Stand on the Temple Mount?

Three serious proposals put the Holy of Holies in three different places on the same [...]

18
Sep
Ancient staircase near the Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu, Jerusalem, a path many believe Jesus walked toward Gethsemane
Where Was the House of Caiaphas?

Two churches on Mount Zion claim the site of the high priest's house. One of [...]

17
Sep
The silver star in the grotto beneath the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, marking the traditional site of Jesus's birth
Was Jesus Born in a Stable?

The wooden barn in our nativity sets comes from northern Europe. What the earliest sources [...]

16
Sep
The baptismal site of Qasr al-Yahud on the Jordan River
Where Was Jesus Baptized?

Two of the three sit on opposite banks of the same stretch of river. The [...]

15
Sep
The vaulted Gothic interior of the Cenacle on Mount Zion, with ribbed arches springing from stone columns and a carved niche in the wall
Where Was the Upper Room?

The room shown to visitors on Mount Zion was built by Crusaders, sits above a [...]

14
Sep
The olive orchard of the Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem
Where Exactly Was the Garden of Gethsemane?

The general location is one of the more secure identifications in Jerusalem. The specific plot [...]

12
Sep
The Old City of Jerusalem viewed from the terrace of the BYU Jerusalem Center
Can I Share My Faith in Israel?

Exodus Tours asks every pilgrim to refrain from proselyting in the Holy Land. That commitment [...]

11
Sep
Via Dolorosa street sign in English, Arabic, and Hebrew in the Old City of Jerusalem
Is the Via Dolorosa the Actual Route Jesus Walked?

The Way of Sorrows follows a path through the Old City that was set by [...]

10
Sep
The main entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem
Was Jesus Buried at the Garden Tomb or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre?

Two places in Jerusalem are shown to visitors as the tomb of Jesus. Here is [...]

09
Sep
A guanaco in Patagonian grassland with snow peaks beyond
Day Trips From Buenos Aires: Colonia or an Estancia

If you have a spare day in Buenos Aires, there are two classic ways to [...]

08
Sep