Archaeologists managed to date the monument to 129-30 AD. According to the historian Dio Cassius, it was in that year in which Adrian, traveled around the eastern part of the empire and visited Jerusalem where Tenth Legion was stationed at the time.

The value of the monument is that it allows the scientists to establish a link between the Legion, that played a key role in defeating the Jewish Rebellion and the suppression of the Bar Kochba revolt, and the emperor who ordered the destruction of the holy city, and replaced it with a Roman colony Aelia Capitolina.

Source: newsru.co.il

Those who can’t join the full ride from Sde Boker to Jerusalem, which will take a five days, can join the one day route.

This year riders from 14 countries will gather at the starting point of the Ride.
Israel: 150 riders
USA: 115 riders.
Holland: 27 riders
Canada: 21 riders
Brazil: 5 riders
As well as riders from the United Kingdom, South Africa, Sweden, Australia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Singapore, Belgium and France!

Source: Wheels of Love

Festival participants will enjoy a full birding program that includes tours led by the leading birders and tour guides during day, presentations on birds in the hotel lounge from specialists with intimate knowledge of the area during evening hours.

Source: thinkisrael

Zilberbod and Libman, lidding archaeologists, said “It is true we did not find a church at the site… or any other unequivocal evidence of religious worship; nevertheless, the impressive construction, the dating to the Byzantine period, the magnificent mosaic floors, window and roof tile artifacts, as well as the agricultural-industrial installations inside the dwelling compound, are all known to us from numerous other contemporary monasteries,”.

Moreover, Zilberbod and Libman said the finds revealed that the local residents were engaged in wine and olive oil production for their livelihood.
“The impressive size of the agricultural installations shows that these facilities were used for production on an industrial- scale, rather than just for domestic use,” they said.

Source: Jpost

He also said that the cave is currently being explored and mapped. Together with the Hebrew University Geography Department’s Center for Speleology, the INNPPA looking into how the rare site may be preserved.

Source: Haaretz

Archaeologists previously thought the structure was part of a city wall, but recent work carried out by Ido Wachtel from University of Jerusalem, indicates there is no city beside it and that the structure is a standing monument. The proposed interpretation for the site is that it constituted a prominent landmark in its natural landscape, serving to mark possession and to assert authority and rights over natural resources by a local population.

The structure’s crescent shape may have had symbolic importance, as the lunar crescent is a symbol of an ancient Mesopotamian moon god named Sin. An ancient town called Bet Yerah (which translates to “house of the moon god”) is located only a day’s walk from the crescent-shaped monument. As such, the monument may have helped mark the town’s borders. While the monument is located within walking range of the city it is too far away to be an effective fortification.

Source: livescience

This year’s exhibition featuring 100 winning photographs which were selected by a panel of jurors headed by Jim Brandenburg, one of the world’s most respected photographers. The images in the exhibition were selected from photographs submitted by wildlife photographers from all over the world.
Alongside the international exhibition runs a “local wildlife Exhibition”, which features photographs of an Israeli wildlife and takes place in collaboration with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Israeli Nature Photography Association
The winning photographs were selected in the following categories:

Photograph of the year, Portrait of an animal, Birds, The underwater world, Reptiles and amphibians, Animals under controlled conditions, Nocturnal life,
Invertebrates, Urban wildlife, Mammals, Nature kingdom, Families in nature,
Young photographers, Conflict between human beings and animals, Animal humor, Ongoing photographic project, Video.
Every Saturday free guided tours of the exhibition will be conducted by Authority guides, at 11 a.m. and at 12:30 p.m. Tours will also be held at 4pm and 5pm, at no additional cost.

The museum is located at 2 Haim Levanon St., Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv
Exhibition Opening Hours:
Sunday-Wednesday: 10 am-4 pm, Thursday: 10 am-8 pm, Friday: 10 am-2 pm,
The exhibition is held until 25th of august.

Source: goisrael.com

Four days after it set off to sea, the ship collided with an iceberg and began sinking. A shortage of lifeboats and a wrong instruction not to fully load the boats on board led to one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in modern history. More than 1,500 people out of 2,200 passengers lost their lives.

Over the years, the tragedy took on mythical dimensions and turned into an eternal proverb about man’s arrogance against natural forces.

The exhibition reenacting the story of the Titanic is being brought to Israel by Dudi Berkovich, owner of the Hadran ticket office. Berkovich has been negotiating displaying the exhibition in Israel for years with the Premier Exhibitions company.

The cost of producing the exhibition in Israel is estimated at $2 million, with hundreds of thousands of dollars allotted to the insurance of the expensive artifacts, including clothes, eyeglasses, cutlery, cups, kitchenware and diamond embedded jewelry.

Source: ynet

“We are not surprised by the demand for camping, which has become a hot trend not only in Israel but also around the world,” said Tourism Ministry director-general Amir Halevy. “Israel is a classic camping location, with excellent weather, and therefore establishing camping areas with upgraded infrastructure and clean bathrooms and shower facilities is top priority in the Tourism Ministry’s work plan as part of its activities to reduce the cost of vacationing in Israel.”

Source: jpost.com

On the eve of the marathon will open an exhibition “Health and Fitness”, which will set the tone for a marathon and will be held at the International Convention Center. Thousands of athletes both from Israel and from around the world will be able to get information about health and sports nutrition, visit the lectures, and to purchase equipment for marathon.

Department of Development of Jerusalem, together with the Ministry of Tourism of Israel and the “El Al” airline, developed special tour packages for marathon participants in which provided special rates for restaurants, bars, cafes and attractions. After the main event, runners will be invited to a traditional feast of pasta, organized in honor of the marathon.

Source: goisrael.ru