The main tourist attractions of Israel can be visited in just a few days
A correspondent for Lenta.ru spent the night in a Bedouin tent, swam in two seas, and admired works of art.
Ancient and not-so-ancient antiquities
Ben-Gurion International Airport in Israel is always very busy. Large families are not uncommon in Israel, and in the crowd of arriving and waiting passengers, tourists from Europe and the States in sandals and with bright backpacks mingle with secular Israelis who look no different from them, with Orthodox Jews (here they are called "Haredim") in black suits and hats, and with Arab women in hijabs. There are many children everywhere: both in traditional clothing and in the most ordinary. Large families are common in all strata of Israeli society.
Israelis love to travel, but almost all of them also love their country very much. It is not surprising: even those who come to Israel for the first time and for a short time are amazed at how much can be seen literally in a few days. The country resembles a living encyclopedia of various sciences, from history and geography to art and biology.
Directly from the airport, we are taken south to the Judean Desert, where, as for many centuries in a row, Bedouins—Muslim desert dwellers—nomadize. They have long since acquired televisions and cars, but still keep flocks of sheep and a considerable number of camels. Tourists ride camels: the intelligent animals do not stumble on the rocky desert soil, although many tourists, including myself, are quite scared in the high saddle a couple of meters above the ground.
We go to spend the night in Bedouin tents, but first a very dignified Bedouin in traditional long robes treats his European guests to sweet freshly brewed coffee and tells how it is prepared: roasting the beans, grinding them in a special mortar, and pouring different amounts of the drink into small cups, depending on the attitude toward the guest. The Bedouin's family has come a long way from the simple life of their ancestors: the children study in schools and universities, and he himself studied at university and speaks not only Arabic but also Hebrew and English.
After spending the night in the tent (which is more comfortable than a camping tent), tourists go to meet the dawn at a real geographical anomaly that scientists call the Syrian-African Rift. Essentially, it is the border between two continents and the lowest point on land—just under a kilometer below sea level. Here, above the blue and almost still water of the Dead Sea, the Moab Mountains rise on the Jordanian side, and on the Israeli side, the Judean Mountains and the famous Masada mountain, described by Josephus.
Israeli archaeologists have excavated on Masada luxurious (especially by the standards of two thousand years ago) fortress and winter palaces of the biblical King Herod I and traces of the historical Zealot revolt. The leader of the Zealot detachment, Eleazar ben Yair, resisted the Roman legions for several months in Herod's former refuge with a small group of supporters, and then, when it became clear that Masada was doomed, he called on them, together with their wives and children, to voluntarily leave life. This legend, told by Josephus, became the basis for patriotic stories that Israeli children hear as early as school.
Whether Flavius told the truth is not known for certain, but in the early 1960s, archaeologists found many artifacts that can be interpreted as confirmation of this story. In particular, along with Herod's palaces and their beautiful mosaics, they excavated a synagogue of ancient architecture (previously, in synagogues, people sat not in rows with their backs to the entrance, but on benches along the perimeter of the walls). Now, in its ruins, a special room has been arranged for an active sofer—a scribe of the sacred texts of the Torah.
You can climb Masada on foot from the gentler western side (the slope was filled in and leveled by Roman legionaries preparing to storm the fortress occupied by the rebels), and descend via the steep "Snake Path" (along which, as they say, special forces soldiers run with full gear after a forced march when taking the oath on Masada) or in a comfortable cable car cabin. At the bottom of the cable car, there is a spacious cafe and souvenir shops—you won't go hungry or without magnets.
The next item on the program is swimming in the Dead Sea. Its extremely salty water is beneficial for people with skin and joint diseases. But even if a tourist does not need therapeutic baths, it is pleasant to swim in the sea as in a warm bath. The Dead Sea is warm even in early spring, when the Mediterranean is still cool. You just need to maintain a vertical position while swimming and paddle very carefully with your hands: the water is dense, pushing out and turning over those who try to swim in the usual way, and splashes that get into the eyes strongly irritate the mucous membrane; you need to immediately run and rinse them with clean water.
The next day, the acquaintance with the legacy of Herod I continued: I saw for the first time what a real ancient city looked like. On the Mediterranean coast lie the ruins of Caesarea—a large port city founded by this king and named after his suzerain, Caesar, the Roman emperor. Under Herod, a high lighthouse was built in Caesarea, the harbor was fortified so that ships could take shelter from storms, and warehouses, markets, temples, and a hippodrome were constructed.
Later, numerous conquest campaigns by Arabs and Crusaders led to Caesarea's decline; almost nothing remained of it. But what remains has been carefully excavated by archaeologists. Now, guided tours are conducted in Caesarea, concerts are held there (the ancient amphitheater has been restored for this purpose), and contemporary art exhibitions are held. One example of this art is modestly hidden behind the ledges of the ancient ruins: a giant, clearly anthropomorphic figure without a face but with male genitalia and giant, hobbit-like feet.
The statue is conceived as an image of the future King David after the battle with Goliath, but according to the precepts of Judaism, sculptures should not fully resemble a person: this goes back to the prohibition on "making oneself an idol," in other words, an idol. In general, Israel is a secular state, but religious traditions are respected there; for example, public transport does not run on Shabbat, and a kosher cafe will not serve meat borscht with sour cream or other non-kosher food, such as seafood "without scales and fins" – shrimp or octopus. <\/p>
Golden City <\/h2>
But the main point of the program for those seeking to get to know Israel is Jerusalem. Perhaps all educated inhabitants of the planet know about it. In the Old City of Jerusalem, divided into several parts, representatives of different religions and denominations coexist: Catholics and Orthodox Christians, Copts and Muslims, Armenians, Greeks, and representatives of the Georgian Orthodox Church. The Jews also have their own quite extensive quarter: it adjoins the so-called Wailing Wall, or in Hebrew, Ha-Kotel ha-Ma'aravi, the Western Wall.<\/p>
The Western Wall is a fragment of the cladding of an artificial hill with a platform on top, on which the Jewish Second Temple stood until 70 AD, destroyed by the Romans. Now all that remains of their Temple for the Jews is a retaining wall, but they come to it to pray, leave notes with requests to the Almighty, and hope that He will allow the Temple to be rebuilt. For now, the Temple Mount itself is controlled by Palestinian Arabs, and Muslim shrines are located there – the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the golden Dome of the Rock (Masjid Qubbat as-Sakhrah). It covers a rock outcropping at the place from which, according to the Quran, the Prophet Muhammad made his ascension to heaven – the mi'raj.<\/p>
Only Muslims are allowed onto the Temple Mount in normal mode (visits to the shrines by people of other faiths require special conditions and a guide's accompaniment), but anyone can approach the Western Wall. Likewise, anyone can enter the main Christian shrine of Jerusalem (and of the entire Christian world as well) – the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, located nearby. Almost all the narrow streets of the Arab and Christian quarters are filled with shops selling souvenirs, textiles, fruits and other products, as well as various religious attributes: icons, candles, incense, figurines, Muslim prayer rugs, and the like.<\/p>
If you book a tour in advance, you can go underground and see the cyclopean masonry of the Temple Mount supports, ancient columns, passages, and cisterns. Believing Christian pilgrims and tourists simply interested in biblical history walk along the so-called stations – stages of the Way of the Cross of Jesus Christ (Catholics have more than Orthodox), guides tell them Gospel stories and various tales of Christian miracles that happened (or supposedly happened) in Jerusalem.<\/p>
Around the street of the Way of the Cross – Via Dolorosa – are concentrated not only Arab shops with religious goods, but also religious shelters and hotels for pilgrims. For example, at the Austrian Hospice, you can go up to a rooftop terrace and look at the city (for a small fee) or have coffee with cream and real strudel in the garden. But for those who want tasty desserts, it is better to leave the Old City to the western, Jewish part of Jerusalem: there, right along the walls and the old quarter of Yamin Moshe, about ten years ago they opened a luxury (by Israeli standards) shopping center (canyon) Mamilla with excellent cafes of various cuisines, including Italian and Oriental.<\/p>
If you get a good spot, you can admire the walls of the Old City and the houses of Yamin Moshe (this, by the way, is almost the most expensive housing in Jerusalem). All houses in the city are traditionally built from local stone – golden limestone. It gave the city its name – in Hebrew the city is sometimes poetically called Yerushalayim Zahava, "Golden Jerusalem." More precisely, "golden": in Hebrew, the word "ir" ("city") is feminine.<\/p>
You can view all the ancient buildings adjacent to the Old City from above by climbing the tower of the YMCA building. At first glance, it looks ancient, almost a contemporary of the Crusaders, but it was built in the 20th century. It is an example of a peculiar Oriental version of the Art Deco style and an excellent observation deck with a 360-degree view. You can see Rehavia – a very beautiful wealthy neighborhood of villas in Oriental and Art Deco styles – and the Jaffa Street shopping thoroughfare, and the Valley of Hinnom ("Gehenna" of biblical tradition) adjacent to the walls of the Old City, and – in the distance – the Mount of Olives with an Orthodox church.<\/p>
A must-see point in the city is the Israel Museum. This place is unique because it houses not only historical but also art collections. Next to the rooms where ancient Torah scrolls, archaeological artifacts, and traditional clothing of religious Jews from the diaspora from different parts of the world are displayed, there are halls with quite secular exhibits: paintings by Impressionists donated to the museum by Jewish philanthropists, and halls for temporary exhibitions. <\/p>
By the Blue Sea <\/h2>
Perhaps the most modern, dynamic, "never-sleeping" city in Israel is Tel Aviv, built by the founding fathers of the State of Israel and their followers on the sand near the ancient port of Jaffa. Now it is a quite (by the small overall scale of the country) impressive metropolis, which is being built up more and more vigorously with residential and office skyscrapers.<\/p>
Life in Tel Aviv is constantly bustling: on weekdays during the day – business and commerce, in the evenings – restaurants and clubs, on Shabbat – relaxed, as befits a day of rest, when almost everything is closed and only taxis operate from public transport. Perhaps the most pleasant corner of Tel Aviv from a nightlife perspective (besides the beach cafes, of course) is Rothschild Boulevard, named after the wealthy philanthropist whose money was used to build the first neighborhood of the city, Neve Tzedek, and open the first schools.<\/p>
On Rothschild Boulevard in the old museum building, a hall is preserved untouched with chairs brought from nearby cafes more than 70 years ago. On these chairs sat statesmen and journalists at the historic moment when David Ben-Gurion declared the creation and independence of the State of Israel. The hall is modest, but the consequences were impressive: in wars and labor that sometimes bordered on hard labor, Israelis defended their right to their own country.
For a tourist, the most pleasant thing in Tel Aviv is to swim in the warm Mediterranean Sea and look at antiquities: they exist in the modern city too. In the ancient city of Jaffa, there are art galleries, shops of artistic ceramics, a bridge with images of zodiac signs where romantic girls go to make wishes, as well as the Mecca of all second-hand fans and hunters for vintage items – the flea market, or as it is called here, Shuk Pishpishim. To get there faster, you can rent a bicycle or scooter: the city is on the coast, and there are almost no steep climbs.
On Friday mornings, a real flea market is held on a special site of the shuk: everything is quite cheap, and if you rummage, you can buy vintage jewelry for 5 shekels or ceramics for 20. For furniture or lamps (which are, of course, more expensive), you can go to the antique shops that work constantly, not only on Fridays. And celebrate successful purchases – in a cafe or restaurant of Levantine cuisine, where they cook proper shakshuka, hummus, and turkey dishes. It is recommended to wash it down with lemonade with sherbet ice cream or local Israeli white wine from the Carmel vineyards.
Israel is not liked by everyone: some are disturbed by the abundance of people in military uniform on the streets, some are annoyed by the garbage on the sidewalks – an inevitable consequence of relaxed Levantine carelessness, quite logical in the scorching heat that lasts here more than half a year. Some are depressed by the rather high prices in hotels and restaurants. What can you do: you can't please everyone, and this also applies to countries. However, those who fell in love with Israel, as happened to me, like it any way.