One thing that makes this tiny country such a unique destination is that its fateful geographical location has made it a mammoth repository and eyewitness to two main aspects of human development—the development of 7,000 years of civilization and the development of today’s three most populous religious beliefs.

Could Judaism have been born without the preceding tribal pagan beliefs? Could Christianity have been spawned without Judaism, or Islam formed without the Biblical history shared by both Jews and Christians? Maybe there’s no answer for that, but one thing is clear—religious thought, activism and experience is the backbone of the framework that is the history of the Holy Land. To seek or savor one without the other is impossible here.

Phoenicians, Greeks, Canaanites Babylonians, Assyrians, Romans, Arabs, Crusaders, Turks and the British—all, at one time or another, laid claim to this land coveted by the original Tribes of Israel and left evidence of their influence from one end of this land to another.

Because of that, for those clients interested in history and culture, there’s no richer vacation opportunity than Israel. But remind those clients and yourself when you’re selling them, that mesmerizing aspect of ancient cultures and that important history that draws them to Israel, runs parallel to the same religious history that attracts pilgrims to savor the spiritual rewards of the Holy Land’s religious heritage. In other words—like much of culture- and history-rich Europe—you’re not going to find one without the other in Israel.

So with that said, this market segment, too, would be well-advised to start their cultural and historical quest in Jerusalem. At the City of David Archaeological Garden, for example, clients will find ancient remains from the fourth millennium B.C. up to the Byzantine period. In the excavation area, visitors can see the remains of a residential quarter, which was destroyed with the destruction of the First Temple, as well as the remains of the city wall and its towers from the Second Temple and Byzantine periods.

In the Old City, there’s a variety of other historical sites to explore in addition to the attractions listed in the previous Religious Travel section:

• Zedekiah’s Cave in the wall of the Old City, which—according to popular legend—was the escape route King Zedekiah used to flee from the Babylonians to the plains of Jericho.
  
• The Israelite Tower, or the Burnt Tower, dating from the end of the First Temple period, displays remnants of the battle waged at the site during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem.
  
• Damascus Gate, which since the time of the Romans has been the most important of Jerusalem’s eight Old City gates. Originally built in the days of Hadrian (A.D. 133), visitors can still walk through it to the square and a museum that exhibits the history of the Damascus Gate
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• The Tomb of Absalom—the son of King David, who mutinied against his father and was killed by the king’s troops—is a monument in Jerusalem’s upper Kidron Valley (Jehosephat Valley), on the foothills of Mount of Olives, facing the Temple Mount.