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The Real Da Vinci Code!   January 2, 2005

Unique guide for archaeology minded traveler to Israel   December 15, 2002

The little known Oxford Archaeological Guides series provides information that you cannot find elsewhere This guide was written by Jerome Murphy-O'Connor in 1980 and was revised for the new Oxford Archaeological guides series in 1997 as the initial offering of the series. O'Connor provides a wealth of information here that you wont find in regular guidebooks. The topic of biblical archaeology is too large to be addressed by any one book. The author squeezes all he can into less than 500 pages. The section dealing with Jerusalem is most detailed. Outlying sites receive less attention. There is useful information about hours of operation and practical matters such as directions to remote sites. In addition to describing the various areas of interest, there are sections giving the history of the different peoples of the holy land, both historical and present day including sections on the Druze, the Philistines, the Samaritans, the Essenes and the Nabateans. There is a good attention here to changes over time with an emphasis on how the appearance of each site evolved over the years. Interesting comparisons are made with the condition of sites in the present day and their description in ancient texts including Josephus' "The Jewish War" and the Bible itself. This book would be inadequate as the only guidebook for a visit to Israel. I would recommend the Knopf Guide to the Holy Land and Baedeker Israel for routine tourist information. Some minor drawbacks: the drawings and maps are not as detailed as they could be and the few photographs that are provided are black and white and of poor quality. These complaints are not critical flaws; the book would still be invaluable even if it didn't contain a single illustration.


An excellent guide for the layman.   May 30, 2000
  37 out of 38 found this review helpful

We recently returned from two weeks in Israel where we traveled around on our own with this book and the Lonely Planet Guide. Our trip would have been much poorer without The Holy Land. The strength of the book is its description of almost every ancient site of interest in Israel with line maps of the present structures and historical descriptions of the sites. The author includes quotes from ancient historians and medieval pilgrims as well as citations to the Bible. He approaches all the sites with respect but does not hesitate to call the authenticity of some sites into question when the historical or archaeological evidence does not support it. He points out that greater faith can be placed in the Christian sites where there was evidence of pre-Constantinian veneration, before the questions of pilgrims "excited the imaginations of local guides." For me this makes the more credible sites such as the Holy Sepulchre and the house of Peter even more moving.

For practical information on hotels, buses, etc. you should pick up the Lonely Planet Guide, but for infomation on the historical and religious sites this is the best book I have seen.