Dr. Tom McCollough is the Nelson and Mary McDowell Rodes Professor of Religion at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. He is the director of the archaeological excavations at Khirbet Qana (Cana of Galilee).
Dr. McCollough has been involved in archaeological excavations in Israel for 35 years serving as the associated director of the excavations at the ancient city of Sepphoris before taking over the excavations at Cana. In addition to his archaeological work, Dr. McCollough has led study tours to Israel for more than 20 years, and so is well prepared to serve as your guide as well as your educator when you join his tour of the Holy Land.
Program
1st Day: Depart New York for flight to Tel-Aviv.
2nd Day: Upon our arrival at Tel-Aviv airport, you will be met and assisted at the airport and will be driven to your hotel in Jerusalem for dinner and after dinner a brief orientation walk and meeting.
3rd Day: We begin each day with a meeting of the group with time for a devotional and an overview of the day and the places we will visit. We will structure our time in Jerusalem and environs roughly in chronological terms from the origins of ancient Israel to coming of Islam. In that spirit we begin with a visit to the archaeological park associated with the City of David, the tunnels along the Western (or ‘Wailing’) Wall and the wall itself. After lunch, in the old City, we will visit various sites in the Jewish Quarter to include the ‘Burnt House’ and the Herodian Mansion. We will make our way back to the hotel via the Dormition Church. Dinner will be at the hotel and there will be an opportunity to walk down Jaffa Street to parts of West Jerusalem in the evening.
4th Day: We will begin with a visit to the Temple Mount (the Haram al-Sharif). The times for non-Muslims to visit the Haram are limited to early morning and a short time in the afternoon. We will then walk the Via Dolorosa, stopping at churches along the way to include St. Anne’s church, the Church of the Flagellation, and the Church of the Redeemer. We will take a break at that point for lunch and then after lunch we will go the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. After an extensive visit to this most sacred site, I will offer the option of visiting the Garden Tomb and the Albright Institute or those that wish could use the rest of the afternoon for shopping or revisiting some of the sites, etc.
5th Day: This morning we begin at the Mount of Olives with a panoramic view of Jerusalem. We will visit the Chapel of the Ascension, the Church of Pater Noster, and walk along Palm Sunday Road stopping at the Dominus Flevit church and the Garden of Gethsemane. We will visit the Church of All Nations, which stands on the Rock of the Agony and the Tomb of the Virgin Mary. We will then walk down into the Valley of Kidron. After lunch we will go by bus to Bethlehem and have dinner at a Bedouin-type restaurant in Bethlehem.
6th Day: Today we leave our Jerusalem hotel and drive up north along the coastal highway. We stop on the coast to visit Caesarea built by King Herod the Great on our way to Haifa. We then turn east and continue to Megiddo. We will have lunch with friends at Moshav Zippori and end our day with a long visit to Sepphoris, Herod Antipas’ capital and a site I helped excavate. We will drive to Nazareth to our hotel that is located a few blocks from the magnificent Church of the Annunciation.
7th Day: We depart Nazareth and head to the Sea of Galilee to visit Capernaum and continue to Tabgha, the chapel dedicated to the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes. We will visit the Mount of Beatitudes, the site of the Sermon on the Mount. After lunch on the Sea of Galilee we will visit the new excavations at Magdala and the beautiful new worship center there. We continue on around Sea of Galilee to the River Jordan and a traditional baptismal site and end our time on the Sea of Galilee with the Hammat Tiberius Synagogue and its wonderful zodiac mosaic.
We will drive south through the Jordan valley and spend the night in Jericho.
8th Day: We begin our day with a visit to the site of ancient Jericho, the oldest city in the world. We then drive to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. After Qumran we will continue along the Dead Sea passing through to Ein Gedi to Massada where the Jewish Zealots held out against the advancing Roman Legions. On our return we will stop for those who would like to take a dip in the Dead Sea before returning to our hotel in Jericho.
9th Day: This is the day of departure to return to the U.S. If we have time we will go to the airport via Jerusalem for some last minute revisits or shopping before heading to the airport.
3 Day Extension to
PETRA
April 9 – 11, 2016
TOUR CONDITIONS
Price 3875.00 (Per person)
Includes
– Return Economy Flight NYC / TLV / NYC
– Accommodation in Tourist First Class.
– Breakfast and dinner daily.
– All transfers and transportation for sightseeing in private air-conditioned motor-coach.
– Entrance fees to all sites. indicated in the Program.
– Boat-ride on Lake of Galilee.
– Porterage of one suitcase per person.
Excludes
– Tips ($100.00 to be paid in advance)
– Travel and medical insurance (Recommended)
– Items of personal nature (drinks, coffee and laundry and the like).
– Single Room Supplement $ 475.00
Payment / Cancellation
– A non refundable deposit of $500.00 required upon registration.
– Balance of payment should be paid no later than 60 days prior to departure.
– Full Cancellation will apply within 60 days from date of departure.
RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT
The presenters, organizers and operators of this tour act only as agents in making arrangements for hotels, transportation, sightseeing, restaurants, or any other services in connection with the itineraries for the individual tour member who by acceptance thereof, agrees that they and/or their agents shall not be liable for any injury, damage, loss, accident, delay or irregularity, liability or expense to person or property due to any act or default of any hotel, carrier, restaurant, company or person providing or rendering any of the services included in the tours. The coupons, tariffs, rules or contracts currently in use by any carrier, hotel, restaurant or other contractor rendering or providing service shall constitute the sole contract between such contractor and the tour member. Further, the presenters and organizers and/or their agents, tour operators and suppliers accept no responsibility for damage, delay, or irregularity, expense or liability arising from sickness, pilferage, labor disputes, machinery breakdown, quarantine, government restraints, war, disturbances, weather conditions, defect in any vehicle or transportation or for any misadventure or casualty or any other cause, or for any additional expenses or damage due to changes in advertised schedules of services or any other cause. Any and all losses and expenses will be borne by the tour member, the rates being only for the time period and places specified. All accommodation, services and facilities are rendered. The right is reserved to cancel or change itineraries or substitute services without notice and to decline to accept or retain any tour member at any time. All schedules shown herein are subject to change without notice. The organizers and presenters and / or their land tour operators reserve the right to cancel, withdraw or change the tour, in whole or in part, at any time. In the event of a change deemed necessary by the organizers and presenters and / or their land tour operators, THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE OBLIGATION of the organizers and / or their presenters is to refund any payments received in connection therewith.
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY THE ABOVE. ENROLLMENT, AND PAYMENT FOR THE TOUR PROGRAM, CONSTITUTES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT & THE TOUR CONDITIONS.
REGISTRATION
Please enroll me in the Dr. Tom McCollough Journey to the Holy Land / April 3 -11, 2016 Holy land Tour. Below is my / our contact Information and details:
Name of Participant/s :
1. 2. Room-mate:
3. 4. Room-mate:
No. of Participants:
No. of Single / Double / Twin / Triple Bedded Rooms:
Telephone: E-mail:
Address:
Remarks:
I / We are attaching a check for the amount of US$ as deposit to secure seats on this Tour.
Please indicate below by YES or NO if you take the 3 Day extension tour to Petra April 11 – 13, 2016 at a price ranging between $650.00 – $850.00 (Final Price will be determined subject to the number of participating members).
Kindly Print and MAIL the above with your check addressed to:
Dr. Tom McCollough
Department of Religious Studies
Centre College
600 W. Walnut Street
Danville, KY 40422
Important Notes
US Citizens do not require a Visa to Israel.
Valid Passports / Minimum 6 months validity.
Names and Dates of Birth to be provided identical to Passport (when making final payment).