Judaean DesertThe Judaean Desert or Judean Desert (Barr al-Khalil, Midbar Yehuda) is a desert in the West Bank and Israel that lies east of Jerusalem and descends to the Dead Sea. Under the name El-Bariyah, it has been nominated to the Tentative List of World Heritage Sites in the State of Palestine, particularly for its monastic ruins. The term originates in the Hebrew Bible, and it is mentioned in Judges and Psalms. It is sometimes known as יְשִׁימוֹן Yeshimon, meaning desert or wildland, or yet Wilderness of Judah or Wilderness of Judaea, among others.
Antipater the IdumaeanAntipater I the Idumaean (113 or 114 BCE – 43 BCE) was the founder of the Herodian Dynasty and father of Herod the Great. According to Josephus, he was the son of Antipas and had formerly held that name. A native of Idumaea, a region southeast of Judah in which the Edomites settled during the classical period, Antipater became a powerful official under the later Hasmonean kings and subsequently became a client of the Roman general Pompey the Great when Pompey conquered Judah in the name of Roman Republic.
Benjamin of TudelaBenjamin of Tudela (בִּנְיָמִין מִטּוּדֶלָה, binjaˈmin mituˈdela; بنيامين التطيلي, Binyamin al-Tutayli; Tudela, Kingdom of Navarre, 1130 - Castile, 1173) was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, and Africa in the twelfth century. His vivid descriptions of western Asia preceded those of Marco Polo by a hundred years. With his broad education and vast knowledge of languages, Benjamin of Tudela is a major figure in medieval geography and Jewish history.
Jacob's WellJacob's Well (Biʾr Yaʿqūb; Fréar tou Iakóv; Beʾer Yaʿaqov), also known as Jacob's fountain and Well of Sychar, is a deep well constructed into the bedrock that has been associated in religious tradition with Jacob for roughly two millennia. It is situated inside an Eastern Orthodox church and monastery, in Balata village on the outskirts of the Palestinian city of Nablus in the West Bank. Bromiley (1982) claims that Jewish, Samaritan, Christian, and Muslim traditions associate the well with Jacob, but only mentions examples of Christian pilgrimage and Western research.
Tirzah (ancient city)Tirzah (תִּרְצָה) was a town in the Samarian highlands northeast of Shechem; it is generally identified with the site of Tell el-Far'ah (North), northeast of modern city of Nablus, in the immediate vicinity of the Palestinian village of Wadi al-Far'a and the Far'a refugee camp, although Conder and Kitchener suggested that the ancient city may have actually been where Tayasir is now located, based on its phonemes. Conversely, biblical researchers, Robinson and Guérin, suggested identifying the town with Talluza.
Judas MaccabeusJudah Maccabee (or Judas Maccabeus, also spelled Machabeus, or Maccabæus, Hebrew: יהודה המכבי, Yehudah HaMakabi) was a Jewish priest (kohen) and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire (167–160 BCE). The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah ("Dedication") commemorates the restoration of Jewish worship at the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BCE, after Judah Maccabee removed all of the statues depicting Greek gods and goddesses and purified it.
QalqilyaQalqilya or Qalqiliya (Qalqīlyaḧ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank which serves as the administrative center of the Qalqilya Governorate of the State of Palestine. In the 2007 census, the city had a population of 41,739. Qalqilya is surrounded by the Israeli West Bank wall, with a narrow gap in the east controlled by the Israeli military and a tunnel to the Palestinian town of Hableh. Qalqilya is under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority (as part of Area A), while remaining under Israeli military occupation.
