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Israel, a Phaidon art and architecture guide
A Phaidon Art and Architecture Guide With over 285 Color Illustrations and 9 Pages of Maps (Phaidon Cultural Guide) [Jul 01, 1987] Mehling, Marianne
- GenresTravel
324 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
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August 19, 2022
First published when we didn’t have Google, this book gives the reader a full landscape of sites in Israel with some history. It’s all in alphabetical order, good to use wen visiting and wanting to look at a geographical area to better understand or plan out the next day. Reading this book reminds the reader of the history of this ultimate historical place to visit. It’s incredible to think that all these landmarks are compacted in such a small country.
Looking at the pictures is overwhelming. So much rich history, not outlined by the decade but the century. Repeatedly sites have multiple histories – different people, different fires and rebuilding, and meanings on the same site. Jews, Palestinians, Arabs, the Ottoman Empire,
Consider Jaffa, the little harbor town that is not part of Tel Aviv. It was under Egyptian rule then the Philistines took control. The Assyrian conquest occurred in 702 BC but against became a Phoenician town. Alexander the Greek took control in the Hellenistic time period but Jews took control until they were attacked and the city burned down. That’s when the Roman’s took control with Julius Caesar placing it under a Jewish high priest. The Romans destroyed the city during the First Jewish War and the Jews continued to control it under the Second Jewish War 60 years later (132-135). In 636, the Arabs took control. It then declined in the late 1200’s but rebuilt after the founding of Tel Aviv in the early 1900s, grew then combined with the city.
Even with all this history, religion, and architecture, this book is dry. The book doesn’t capture mystique of Jerusalem, the spirit of the Sea of Galea, the fullness of the Dead Sea, the life from the Jordan River, or the delight of Tel Aviv.
Looking at the pictures is overwhelming. So much rich history, not outlined by the decade but the century. Repeatedly sites have multiple histories – different people, different fires and rebuilding, and meanings on the same site. Jews, Palestinians, Arabs, the Ottoman Empire,
Consider Jaffa, the little harbor town that is not part of Tel Aviv. It was under Egyptian rule then the Philistines took control. The Assyrian conquest occurred in 702 BC but against became a Phoenician town. Alexander the Greek took control in the Hellenistic time period but Jews took control until they were attacked and the city burned down. That’s when the Roman’s took control with Julius Caesar placing it under a Jewish high priest. The Romans destroyed the city during the First Jewish War and the Jews continued to control it under the Second Jewish War 60 years later (132-135). In 636, the Arabs took control. It then declined in the late 1200’s but rebuilt after the founding of Tel Aviv in the early 1900s, grew then combined with the city.
Even with all this history, religion, and architecture, this book is dry. The book doesn’t capture mystique of Jerusalem, the spirit of the Sea of Galea, the fullness of the Dead Sea, the life from the Jordan River, or the delight of Tel Aviv.
Displaying 1 of 1 review