Israel/Palestine (525 m) – Biblical Site of the Tomb of Elijah Mount Carmel is technically small range of mountains stretching along the traditional northern border of Israel. Generally the term Mount Carmel usually specifies that hill related to the sites of the life of the Elijah including the tomb where it is believed the prophet is buried. Because of this Carmel was an … [Read more...]
UMAYYAD MOSQUE (MASJID UMAYYAD)
Damascus, Syria Damascus was the first truly great metropolis of the Muslim world, the pilgrimage cities of Mecca and Medina notwithstanding, and it is the only place from which the entire Islamic Empire was ever ruled. During its century as the Umayyad capital, Damascus was one of the largest and most magnificent cities in the world. As wealth from Muslim conquests poured … [Read more...]
AL-HARAM MOSQUE (MASJID AL-HARAM)
Mecca, Saudi Arabia There is no other way to say it – Mecca is the Mecca of all religious pilgrimage destinations. This one-time small trading post, home to an ancient, tiny shrine of the Abrahamic faith, has reigned supreme as the world’s most visited religious site for well over a thousand years. To visit the Grand Mosque of Mecca and the Holy Kaaba at least once in is one … [Read more...]
BASILICA OF ESZTERGOM
Esztergom, Hungary Since the Middle Ages, Hungary has been the easternmost outpost of the Roman Catholic Church, jutting deep into traditional Eastern Orthodox territory. It became so thanks to the efforts of its first true king, Stephen, who dedicated his life to spreading Christianity in Eastern Europe. While his home town of Esztergom served as the national capital for … [Read more...]
TOMBS OF THE MACCABEES
Modi’in, Israel The Modi’in Valley northwest of Jerusalem was ground zero for many of ancient Israel’s wars, from Joshua’s battles against the Canaanites to the desperate Jewish struggles for independence against Rome. However, it is most famous as the region where the Jews, under the leadership of the Maccabee family, launched their rebellion against the Seleucids in the … [Read more...]
TOMB OF EZRA
Al-Azair, Iraq Ezra was one of the most prominent Jewish figures of the late Captivity period, and was chronologically the very last truly important person to appear in the Hebrew Bible. Along with Nehemiah, he was instrumental in the restoration of Judea as a semi-autonomous province of the Persian Empire, and personally led many Jews back to Jerusalem in the early 5th … [Read more...]
TOMBS OF THE MINOR PROPHETS
Several Locations, Israel The Twelve Minor Prophets, as they are usually collectively referred to, are among the last major figures to appear in the Hebrew Bible. Covering a period of about three centuries, the activities of the Twelve Minor Prophets are generally associated with Assyrian and Babylonian conquests and the downfall of the divided kingdoms, as well as the … [Read more...]
TOMBS OF ESTER AND MORDECAI
Hamadan, Iran From the time of the Babylonian Captivity until the 1800s, Western Persia was home to one of the largest and most important communities of Jews-in-exile. This was particularly after the triumph of Christianity in the west, when many of Judaism’s most prominent leaders and religious experts migrated east. The Jewish tradition is strong in the region between … [Read more...]
TOMB OF EZEKIEL
Kefil, Iraq Ezekiel, the other great prophet of the Babylonian Captivity along with Daniel, had much in common with his contemporary. Both spent most of their lives living in Mesopotamia; both died and were buried in foreign lands; the tombs of both became important pilgrimage destinations for the Jews in exile. However, while the site of Daniel’s Tomb has always been … [Read more...]
TOMB OF DANIEL
Shush, Iran Of all of the great figures of the Bible, no one has as many burial sites attributed to them as the Prophet Daniel. More than half a dozen cities in Iran, Iraq and even Uzbekistan make the claim. But the majority of Jews and Muslims believe the Tomb of Daniel in Shush, Iran to be the correct one. Shush, formerly known as Susa, was one of the numerous cities … [Read more...]
