Traveling Companion: A Guide to Guidebooks

Home > Magazines > BAR > November/December 1985

When God said to Abraham lech lecha: “Get thee out of thy country … unto the land that I will show thee” (Genesis 12:1), the Lord acted as the first known guide. Abraham then “departs” out of Haran, “passes through” Shechem, “pitches his tent” south of Beth El, and “journeys” to Egypt and back. The Bible of course is full of people going places without, as far as we know, the benefit of guidebooks. Yet it is from the most famous journey in antiquity, the Exodus, that we have, if not quite a guidebook, at least a travel […]

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Footnotes

John Wilkinson, Jerusalem Pilgrims Before the Crusades (Jerusalem: Ariel Publishing, 1977), p. 15.

Itinerary from Bordeaux to Jerusalem, Palestine Pilgrims’ Text Society, Vol. 1 (London, 1887).

Avraham Ya’ari, Massaot Eretz Israel (Ramat Gan: Massada Press, 1976), pp. 31–48.

In Israel try Herodium, in Egypt the Sphinx, and in Jordan the Wadi Rum.