Among the most striking things about this area is its small size, its political complexity and, of course, its wealth of religious and historical sites.  Israel is smaller than Maryland.  The West Bank, known to Israelis as Judaea and Samaria, is smaller than Delaware.  Traveling on foot or by road can be tricky and dangerous, even for those who reside there (e.g., the West Bank has three different areas with their own systems of control and strict rules on residence and movement).

From a photographer’s perspective, there are many potential subjects beyond the well-known ancient religious and other structures, art and other objects. The “other subjects” include 20th century artifacts, wonderful, interesting faces and street scenes, and food. For example, moments after crossing from Jordan over the Allenby Bridge there are visually striking bunkers and warning signs about mine fields from the wars of the last 60 years. The Bridge goes over the Jordan River, which, by the way, has so little water there now that it barely flows. Nothing like what the river was in biblical times. 

Not far away from Allenby Bridge is photogenic Masada, where there are 2,000 year old remnants of the Roman camps that once surrounded the citadel and the long, high earthen ramp up which the Romans pushed a siege tower.  On top of the citadel, palace ruins remind that there was a sophisticated civilization here 2,000 years ago. Other historic/religous subjects include: Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in caves;  Caesarea, Herod’s seaport on the Mediterranean constructed beginning in 22 BC, with its elaborate fresh water aqueducts, hippodrome, palaces, floor mosaics, etc.;  sites at Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee, including a 4th century synagogue and St. Peter’s likely home;  Bethlehem’s Stations of the Cross and the thousands of people who make pilgrimages to see them;   the four Quarters of Jerusalem along with the Western Wall, Dome of the Rock and other structures on the Temple Mount; and, the Mount of Olives, the Jewish Cemetery, etc.

When walking through Jerusalem’s ancient Zion Gate one is quickly reminded of the Six-Day War (1967) by bullet holes and other battle scars.  Just outside Jerusalem’s walls is a lesser known camera-friendly compound of old stone buildings where activities took place in 1917 to initiate the truce ending the Ottoman rule of Jerusalem and, during the 1967 War, to shelter the International Red Cross and international journalists from mortar fire. The compound was built in the 19th century by a pasha for himself and his four wives on the ruins of an Ottoman style building.  In the beginning of the 20th century, the compound became the American Colony Hotel.  Winston Churchill, Lawrence of Arabia, John Le Carre and many other famous people have stayed at the Hotel, with its many picturesque features including gardens and architectural details.  Other Jerusalem photos capture parts of the Israel Museum.

Jerusalem is so rich with history and photogenic places, that it is well beyond the scope of this brief introduction to list – let alone discuss - all those included in this gallery.

A few pictures are of Tel Aviv, its charming old port, Jaffa, and the Ayalon Institute, just south of Tel Aviv.  From 1945-49, Ayalon was a secret underground ammunition (bullet) factory hidden beneath a Kibbutz that, as far as a visitor then could observe, ran a laundry service.  It was fascinating to see today how elaborately and successfully Ayalon was disguised by its Jewish military creators; most of the Kibbutz’s inhabitants were unaware.  In a different vein, in front of the Knesset in Tel Aviv is a massive bronze Menorah designed by the sculptor Beno Elkan and installed in 1956. It depicts events and people from Jewish history. The rabbis reviewing Elkan’s proposed design rejected a proposed medallion showing a man embracing a woman (perhaps Samson embracing Delilah) as being too salacious to incorporate into the Menorah. Elkan gave the rejected plaster cast (shown in another photograph) to my grandparents.

The internal and external political tensions of March 2023 were at times evident (e.g., demonstrations) during this visit, but did not interfere with our travels or photography.  The environment changed dramatically after our departure when, on October 7, 2023, Hamas made its terrorist attack on Israel and the Israeli military responded.