Over the past 20 years I have made 40 trips to Israel, nearly always for purposes of archaeology and research. Many of my friends, family, and associates, including readers of my books that I have never met, have asked me if I would ever consider leading a tour. I have never seemed to find the time to work that in until now.  I am now able to officially announce such a tour. The dates are October 25 through November 5, 2010.

Here are the details:

I have teamed up with Dr. DeWayne Coxen of Blossoming Rose, who is highly experienced on the logistical side of things, but also gives us special access to the biblical site of Tamar in the Negev desert, as well as the archaeological site of ‘Ein ‘Hatzeta, the Iron Age fortress from the time of the 1st Temple–where we will actually do some digging! I have also included special guest Keith Johnson, who will go with us on the entire trip, and Nehemia Gordon, who will teach us in Galilee about what he and Keith have discovered regarding the “Lord’s Prayer” as covered in their book, A Prayer to Our Father.

This trip is different from any that I have ever seen. It is neither Christian nor Jewish, but we will visit sites relevant to both traditions. One can never include everything but DeWayne and I have spent several months working out the itinerary and balancing choices so that I think our result is going to be the best possible one in terms of balance and depth.  I want to take people (many who will go have never been to the Land) all over and show them many things I have learned over the years, but I also want some in-depth time in the desert, at Tamar, as a Sukkoth type experience. This amazing site, down in the Negev, will be the centerpiece of our tour.

We are opening the enrollment today. Our space is limited to 40 people and I think these spaces will go fast.  If you are interested in going you should go ahead and save your place for now and work out details later.

We have kept the price under $3000 which is hard to do with prices for flights rising. This covers round-trip travel from the NY area to Tel Aviv and most all ground expenses. You book your own flight to NY but we will help you once you register to work that flight into a package deal that will save you some money. You also have the option of getting your own flights using Frequent Flyer or other options and buying just the Land package. And for those who have been many times to Israel and do not want to tour the whole Land, you can join us just at Tamar for a reduced price.

This is a very special trip, different from any other I am aware of, and what it offers, both in terms of the group that will be going, the teachers, and the itinerary, makes it a once in a lifetime opportunity. I will be present on the entire tour and be accessible to those who travel with us.

Hope to see many of you join us!

I am attaching two documents, one giving the itinerary, the other providing you with a registration form to send in. All the pricing questions, logistics, and arrangements are being handled by Blossoming Rose but feel free to write me with any questions about the trip itself or its contents.

Prof. James D. Tabor

jdtabor@uncc.edu

Tabor & Coxon Itinerary (PDF)

Tour Registration form (PDF)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 at 5:03 pm and is filed under Tabor's Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.