A Collection of Rare Travel Books

Centuries ago, when there was not yet a camera to document the journey, travelers returning from the Holy Land committed their impressions to writing.

Their journey accounts sometimes became books containing descriptions of routes, maps, and illustrations of the places they visited—items that over time became priceless historical artifacts.

The Israel Antiquities Authority’s rare-books collection, preserved at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel National Library for the Archaeology of the Land of Israel, includes books printed between the 16th and 19th centuries, many of them concerning journeys and pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

Alongside the writings of European pilgrims, the collection also preserves travel accounts by researchers and military expeditions that operated in the region.

The oldest book in the collection was printed in Venice in 1519. It is a printed edition of a manuscript by the Dominican monk Burchard of Mount Zion, who toured the Holy Land in the late 13th century and described the places he visited.

On Thursdays, the Israel Antiquities Authority hosts guided tours of the rare-books collection in small, intimate groups.

Contact: National Campus Tours
Phone: 052-2149719
Email: mevakrim@atikot.org.il