bhporter.net

ISRAEL 

​In Israel this tour will include all of the important sites such as Jerusalem, the Garden Tomb, Mount of Olives, the Old City, Gethsemane, and the Upper Room.  We will visit the Galilee and see the Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, the home of Christ, Nazareth and Cana. While in the Galilee we will have a boat ride on the Sea and visit a traditional Baptismal site and discuss the meaning of this most important ordinance.  We will visit Bethlehem, and the shepherds fields and have a private meeting with William Kando, whose father acquired the Dead Sea Scrolls when they were discovered in 1947.  In the Old City of Jerusalem we will stand on the Southern Steps of the Temple Mount that Christ and His apostles would walk when entering the Temple area.  We will also stand on the road of the Triumphal Entry that help provoke the Jewish conspiracy against the Savior.  We will see the main Gate in Hezekiah's Broad Wall  that Laban and his Fifty protected when Nephi and his brother acquired the Brass Plates. We will visit the original Pools of Bethesda and the original stones of the "pavement" where the judgment of Crucifixion was issued by Pilot. It is easy to explain where we will go but the feelings, scriptural insights, and spiritual experiences cannot be described sufficient for the written word.

ITINERARY
Egypt Israel
January 24 -February 6, 2024

Day 1

Wednesday January 24, 

Flight from USA to Egypt

A fun day of flying, Watch all the movies you can stand while your sitting.​

Day 2

Thursday, January 25,

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Upon arrival to the Cairo International Airport, Look for the agent that will be holding a sign with the Name "Bruce Porter". You will be met after you deplane and before passport control. The agent will assist you through visa and customs procedures, Your visa is pre-paid and will be placed in your passport by the agents there. From the airport everyone will transferred to our hotel. The Agent will already have you checked in and will distribute the room keys upon arrival at the hotel. 

Day 3: Friday, January 26,

Cairo, Giza Plateau, Pyramids, Sphinx,

This morning we will visit the Pyramids of the Giza Plateau and the Sphinx. Here we will be able to have a camel ride and take a group picture from the overlook. This afternoon we will visit the ancient capital of the Delta region. It was at this sight that Abraham, Sarah and Lot lived. Here Joseph who was sold into Egypt, lived and was imprisoned, as well did his distant cousin Moses lived and learned in the palace halls of the Royal House. We will see the first pyramid ever constructed at Sakkara and discuss the purpose and meaning of all pyramids. We will make a short stop to see the area of the newly discovered prison that held Joseph. We will go into a tomb and see the Pyramid Texts carved on the walls of stone. We will then make our way to the airport for our flight to Luxor and overnight on the banks of the Nile.

Day 5: Sunday January 28, 
Luxor—Luxor Temple -- Cairo

The city of Luxor is called the "Open Air Museum." This morning we will visit the Karnack Temple Here you will be able to walk through the corridors of this ancient temple and enter sacred chambers that only the Pharaoh and his high priest could pass. We will see the decorated walls that will have the remnants of the Gospel that the first Pharaoh taught the people as explained in the Book of Abraham. These monumental ruins are part of the largest temple complex in Egypt. We will stand in the Hypostyle Hall among the largest columns in the world. We will walk through this straight axis temple and their symbols of the creation, beginning with the 'primordial mound' of the Pylons and then move through the creation room, the Garden room the inner holy place and then to the Holy of Holies, ascending higher and higher as we go. At the entrance of the Holy of Holies we will see the depiction of the reality of the Atonement and what it meant to the ancient Egyptians and how it relates to the Latter-day Saints and modern Temples. This evening we will take the hour flight back to overnight in Cairo.

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Day 6 Monday, January 29, 

Cairo – Tel Aviv

Before we continue our leg to Amman and Jerusalem, we should have time to stop at the Kahili Bazaar and view the City of the Dead. We will catch an afternoon flight to Tel Aviv arriving in the evening to Tel Aviv and check into our hotel.

(Those not doing the Egypt portion of the trip will need to arrive to Tel Aviv on the evening of

Monday January 29 to meet up with the group arriving from Cairo)

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Day 1/7: Tuesday, January 30,

Tel Aviv – Tiberius-- Galilee- Caesarea, Aqueduct, Mt Carmel-Mukhraqa, Megiddo, Nazareth, Tiberius

This morning we will make drive along the coast of the Mediterranean to Caesarea on the Sea. This is the place that Paul was imprisoned and preached before Festus. We will see the Roman Theatre and Hippodrome. On our way out of this beautiful city we will walk through the Crusader fortifications and then make a quick stop at the Roman aqueduct. Traveling on the Via Maris our next stop will be at Mt Carmel where Elijah tangled with the priests of Baal. We will stop for lunch at a great restaurant run by a Druze family, and then on to ruins of Megiddo. Here at this fortified city of Solomon and Ahab we can see 27 different layers of occupation and a early Bronze Age Canaanite Altar. In the afternoon we will climb the hills to Nazareth stopping at the Church of the Annunciation and if time permits, we will stop at Cana where the marriage feast and the first recorded miracle of changing water to wine took place. Tonight, we will stay in Tiberius.

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Day 3/9: Thursday, February 1,

Mt. Tabor, Beit She'an, Jericho, Jimmy’s

Today we leave the Galilee with our first stop at Mt Tabor the site of the Transfiguration to discuss the Priesthood and keys. From there we will continue to Beit Sean and the Largest Roman city excavated in Israel and the place of the site where Saul and Jonathan hung on the city wall. We will make our way to Jericho for the evening stopping at the traditional site of the Mount of Temptation and visit Jimmy’s Olive Wood Shop. We will overnight in Jericho, touted to be the oldest city in the world.

Day 4/10:  Friday, February 2,

Jericho - Masada - Dead Sea-Jerusalem

Today we will continue down the Jordan Rift Valley to Masada. We will walk on the top of this 13-acre plateau that was the last stand of the Jewish Zealots. On our way toward Jerusalem there will be with a short stop at the discovery site of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a village called Qumran where it is traditionally taught that John the Baptist may have lived. The oldest documents and manuscripts of the Old Testament were found here. We will have an opportunity to walk through the ruins of Qumran where the scribes prepared copies of the scriptures that would speak from the dust centuries later. If time permits, we will have an opportunity to take a dip in the Dead Sea. Tonight, we will stay in Jerusalem the City of Gold as we prepare to experience the sights/sites and feelings of the most important events concerning the salvation of humanity. Time and weather permitting we may be able to take a float in the Dead Sea for those who want to experience the unnatural properties of the lowest point on earth. Tonight, we will check into our hotel in Jerusalem.