Aqua Bella

Aqua Bella appears to be a manor built by the Order of St. John (the Hospitallers) for its aged, sick, and wounded knights. Although the site has been online for some time, it has recently been updated with additional VRs.

Yehiam

The Yehiam castle in northern Israel is known as Judin in the historical record and was a sister castle of the Teutonic Knights to the nearby Montfort castle. Although short lived, the castle was later rebuilt during the eighteenth century and was utilized by Israelis during the War of Independence.

Enjoy the scenic views from this castle, and see if you can distinguish the various periods of rebuilding in this otherwise unstudied castle.

Hunin castle and Beth Yerah

Hunin castle, known as Chateau Neuf in the historical record, is poorly preserved and never excavated, but it has one of the best examples of a dry moat, which protects its northern site. From the castle one gets a beautiful view of the Hulah valley below and the snow-capped peaks of Mt. Hermon in the distance.

Bet Yerah is better known for its Early Bronze granary, but unfortunately that structure is no longer visible. What has been preserved on the site is a typical basilical church.

Get out your passport, pack your bags, and take a tour of these two new sites in the project.

Khan al-Ahmar

Khan al-Ahmar, hidden away in the small industrial area of Mishor Adummim along the Jerusalem - Jericho road, is the monastery of Euthymius, one of the most important Judean monasteries of the Byzantine period. At the core of the monastery, a probably the oldest surviving part, is the crypt in which Euthymius himself was buried.

Take a visit to Khan al-Ahmar and get a glimpse of early monastic Christianity.

Montfort

The castle is poorly preserved thanks to Baybars who encouraged his troops to dismantle it. Nevertheless, Montfort was the main castle for the Knights of the Teutonic Order, and the castle has perhaps one of the most scenic settings in Israel. Come and visit this new addition to the project.

Umm al-Walid

On the edge of the eastern desert in central Jordan is the rarely visited site of Umm al-Walid. Although much of the ancient site still lies in ruin awaiting excavation and perhaps restoration, a Umayyad Qasr and Mosque have been excavated and preserved. Take a stroll across the qasr's well-paved courtyard and spend the night in one of its residential rooms or barracks. Although labelled a "qasr" - that is, a fortress - this qasr probably functioned as a khan.

A second qasr has also been excavated, but has not seen any preservations activities and is thus more difficult to discern. It is worth the visit, nevertheless.

Explore the Arad Fortress!

Now you can take an audio tour of the Arad Fortress! As with many of our other sites, in addition to a detailed site description, significant interpretational differences are presented as well. Enjoy!