The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (Oxford Archaeological Guides)

A must read if you visit the Holy Land.

I asked an Old Testament scholar which guide he recommended for people visiting Israel, and this was his pick. So a seminary-grad friend and I each bought copies. We kept it with us everywhere we went and found it a most useful resource. It includes both historical backgrounds and summaries of all the major attractions. But don't look for it to include places such as Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum), even though that's the second most popular tourist site after the Western Wall in Jerusalem. This is an archaeological guide. It includes museums with collections relating to archaeology, but it is not intended to be a tourist's guide to every place in the Holy Land.

As advertised

This is a superbly detailed archaeological guide to the Holy Land. I used it on a recent winter trip to Israel (for the first time) because it was recommended to me by a professor as the best guide for the kind of archaeological/historical trip that I wanted to undertake. Occasionally, the author waxes lyrical (he's a Catholic priest, after all) about the land and landscape in a way that non-Christians may find uncomfortable or endearing (or perhaps both).I found it useful to purchase this as a Kindle edition, and to supplement it with the Lonely Planet's excellent guide to Israel and the beautifully illustrated archaeological guide by Fabio Bourbon and Enrico Lavagno. Of these, Murphy-O'Connor and the Lonely Planet are the most indispensable for those planning a visit focused on Israel's archaeological sites. A caveat to the traveller-buyer: none of these guides notes that you can purchase a "visit all the archaeological sites owned by the State of Israel" ticket for something like 100-120 shekels (so, basically, if you're going to be visiting at least 6 sites, you'll save money by getting the omni-card); and some of the opening times listed in the Lonely Planet and/or Murphy-O'Connor are not accurate--when in doubt, call ahead.

We just returned home from a fast-paced two week tour of Israel (and Petra, Jordan). As i look at our photos and my very skimpy notes, I find this book very good for researching the places we saw. The Church of the Nativity and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre were extremely crowded and this book helps me determine some of the details that I do not remember from our wonderful guide or helps recall some of them.

Excellent guide. I purchased this book in Kindle format to take with me on Pilgrimage. For myself, this is a book which could have stayed at home, and been more useful in hard copy format. The text often refers to various pictorial plates, which I would have preferred to tab so that I could go back and forth to review while reading. I did not lower the stars due to my preference, as the guide is comprehensive.

For sheer quantity of information, this book is unequaled. It also covers many places that are skipped over by most other guidebooks. But even with regard to the book's greatest virtue, its inclusiveness, a serious problem must be addressed, and this is the book's bias toward Latin sites, often to the exclusion of Byzantine sites. Some background may help contextualize this problem for those visiting the area for the first time. The Eastern Church has been present in the Holy Land from the beginning, and its oral and written traditions have been carefully passed down from one generation to another, through adversities of all kinds. The Latin Church, in comparison, is a relative newcomer, arriving "in force" only during the Crusades. Of course, human nature being what it is, the Crusaders, and the Franciscans after them, wanted their own holy sites and their own narratives. So a pilgrim to the Holy Land will often find parallel worlds, one Byzantine, and usually older, and one Latin, and usually more recent. And sometimes there are even specifically Protestant locations as well, such as the so-called "Garden Tomb" outside the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, that gained celebrity in the nineteenth century due to its promotion by General Charles Gordon. Unfortunately, Fr O'Connor sometimes ignores the Byzantine sites and narratives, or else gives them a dismissive line or two, while going on at great length about the Roman Catholic ones. Perhaps the most grievous of these omissions is St Gabriel's (Orthodox) Church in Nazareth, built over the spring (and site of the original well, before the nearby, Ottoman-built "Well of Mary" was constructed) from which the Virgin Mary would have drawn water, and where ancient sources consistently locate the Annunciation. Both of these (the Church and the well, not to mention a fine museum nearby) are omitted entirely from the book, in favor of the enormous (Catholic) Basilica of the Annunciation, which gets several pages. Nor will Protestants who take seriously the Garden Tomb as the location for the resurrection be pleased with the condescending treatment accorded it. A more practical problem concerns the size and weight of the book itself. It is too large to fit into even a large jacket pocket and too heavy to want to carry anyway, so its usefulness is limited by its format. The excellent "Blue Guide to Israel and the Palestinian Territories" avoids all of these drawbacks, although it appears to be out of print. Despite all these reservations, however, serious students of this wonderful part of the world will probably want to have access to this book.

I'm traveling to Israel and the old city in May and this book was suggested to me. I really like it the maps and drawings and the information captures my attention.

Excellent book !! very useful!! its content is very specific.It can be said to be the essential book for those who study or visit in Israel.

An outstanding book written by the world's finest expert on the topic. Jerome Murphy-O'Connor spent a lifetime in the Holy Land, lecturing and giving guided tours. His learning and enthusiasm shine through this very remarkable work. It comes at a reasonable price and with plenty of pictures, maps and diagrams to help the reader. Norman Tanner

It is early days with this book. I admit to buying after I visited Israel because I needed to learn more about what I had seen and experienced than was available in the usual and more popular tourist guide books which I had with me. There are many, many such books available. My research indicated that "Holy land" was one of the most respected. The book's author-the late Dr. Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, O.P. is a highly regarded authority on the subjects covered. I have not fully read the book yet (it is not that sort of sit down and read it through book) but I intend to work through it in due course as I am determined to study and get a better understanding of that part of the world. So far the book strikes me as excellent and it serves my objective very well indeed. I regret very much that I did not have it with me when I visited Israel. I highly recommend it as an essential guide book which is more comprehensive than the others that I have used.

I've only had time to quickly look through the book so far, but besides archaeology, it contains information on a quick history. I can see at a glance that it is a well documented book and I will enjoy having it in my collection.

Libro comprato per il mio ragazzo per la sua tesi in archeologia, è stato molto utile e spedizione velocissima, ottimo, grazie!