Masada in the context of "Wisdom (personification)"

The Judaean Desert or Judean Desert (Hebrew: מִדְבַּר יְהוּדָה, romanized: Midbar Yehuda, Arabic: برية الخليل, romanized: Bariyat al-Khalil) is a desert in the West Bank and Israel that stretches east of the ridge of the Judaean Mountains and in their rain shadow, so east of Jerusalem, and descends to the Dead Sea.

The Judaean Desert has historically functioned as a place of refuge for rebels and displaced populations. According to the Hebrew Bible, David took shelter there while fleeing from King Saul. The Hasmonean rulers of Judaea, and their successor, Herod the Great, built several monumental fortresses in the region, including Herodium, Hyrcania, and Masada. In the period of the Jewish–Roman Wars, the desert became a key theater of conflict, with Roman forces besieging major strongholds. Caves in the area, such as the Cave of Letters and the Cave of Horrors, later served as hiding places for Jewish refugees, preserving personal documents, religious texts, skeletons, weapons, clothing, and household items—thanks to the region's arid climate. The desert also attracted religious sects, including the classical-era Jewish ascetics of Qumran (likely Essenes) and Byzantine-era Christian monks who practiced spiritual isolation in local lavras.

Ein Gedi (Hebrew: עֵין גֶּדִי, romanized: ʿĒn Geḏi, Arabic: عين جدي, romanized: ʿAyn Gidī), also spelled En Gedi, meaning "spring of the kid", is an oasis and a nature reserve in Israel, located west of the Dead Sea, near Masada and the Qumran Caves. Ein Gedi is a popular tourist attraction and was listed in 2016 as one of the most popular nature sites in Israel. The site attracts about one million visitors a year.

Next to the reserve is the Ein Gedi Archaeological Park, which hosts the remains of the Roman and Byzantine-era Jewish settlement located nearby. Immediately to the south is modern Ein Gedi, a kibbutz (collective community) established in 1954.

Hebrew and Aramaic papyri have increasingly been discovered from the 1960s onwards, although these papyri remain rare compared to papyri written in Koine Greek and Demotic Egyptian (no relation except in name, "popular," to modern demotic Greek). The most valuable and religious texts were written on leather scrolls, parchment - such as the literary texts from Masada and Qumran, while papyrus was employed for cheaper, domestic use.

A standard work is the Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum of Victor Tcherikover and Alexander Fuks (Cambridge, Massachusetts Vol.I 1957, II 1960, III ed. Menahem Stern 1964) which is largely of Greek language papyri but includes examples of Hebrew and Aramaic papyri from Israel, Jordan, and Egypt.

Tourism in Israel is a major economic sector and a significant source of national income. Israel offers a plethora of historical and religious sites, beach resorts, natural sites, archaeological tourism, heritage tourism, adventure tourism, and ecotourism. For practical reasons, this article also covers tourism in the West Bank and the Golan Heights, since it is closely interconnected with the mass tourism in Israel. In 2019, Israel saw a record 4.55 million tourist arrivals, with tourism contributing NIS 20 billion to the national economy in 2017.

Jerusalem is a central destination for tourists, home to sites such as the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Dome of the Rock. The city also offers numerous cultural and historical attractions, including the Israel Museum and Yad Vashem. Tel Aviv is renowned for its lively nightlife, cultural festivals, and Mediterranean beaches, and the "White City" district, appealing to both local and international visitors. Other notable attractions include the Dead Sea, famous for its high salinity and therapeutic benefits, Haifa and its Baháʼí Gardens, and archaeological sites like Masada, Beit She'an and Caesarea. The Negev Desert offers natural tourism opportunities at locations such as Ramon Crater and Timna Valley, with activities including hiking, camel trekking, and stargazing, while Eilat's Coral Beach Nature Reserve, located in the Red Sea, attracts diving enthusiasts. The Galilee provides a variety of activities such as boating, cycling, and bird watching, alongside its religious sites. Israel has the highest number of museums per capita in the world with over 200 museums.

National parks of Israel are declared historic sites or nature reserves, which are mostly operated and maintained by the National Nature and Parks Authority. As of 2015, Israel maintains 81 national parks and more than 400 nature reserves, including in the occupied West Bank, that protect 2,500 species of indigenous wild plants, 32 species of fish, 530 species of birds and 100 species of mammals.

The parks and reserves were frequently declared around the ruins of the depopulated and subsequently demolished towns and villages of the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight; 182 historical Palestinian built up areas are located within Israel's parks and reserves. Some parks are located at archaeological sites such as Tel Megiddo, Beit She'an, Ashkelon and Kursi. Others, such as the Alexander stream, Mount Carmel National Park or Hurshat Tal focus on nature and the preservation of local flora and fauna. Several parks and nature reserves have camping options, such as tent grounds and bungalows, open to small groups and individual campers. Some of them are located in the Israeli-occupied territories of the Golan Heights and the West Bank.

The siege of Yodfat (Hebrew: יוֹדְפַת, also Jotapata, Iotapata, Yodefat) was a 47-day siege by Roman forces of the Jewish town of Yodfat which took place in 67 CE, during the Great Revolt. Led by Roman General Vespasian and his son Titus, both future emperors, the siege ended with the sacking of the town, the deaths of most of its inhabitants and the enslavement of the rest. It was the second bloodiest battle of the revolt, surpassed only by the Siege of Jerusalem, and the longest except for Jerusalem and Masada. The siege was chronicled by Josephus, who had personally commanded the Jewish forces at Yodfat and was subsequently captured by the Romans.