Have you been to Israel? What do you recommend I download to my tablet?

I have never been to Israel, but I am looking forward to any responses this thread might turn up for my first trip!

As an anecdote, however, I was recently wandering through the Near Eastern Antiquities section of the Louvre in Paris, when I stumbled upon the giant (and beautiful) Frieze of the Archers. Having recently read Xenophon's Anabasis and currently reading Herodotus' Histories, I found them particularly interesting, and I was very glad to have brought along my little tablet filled with a number of Logos resources. I was able to read about Darius I and Xerxes, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, etc. in a number of bible dictionaries and encyclopedias, all while standing there with the originals in front of me.

It helped me remember why I spent so much money on my Logos library.

We were in Israel in 2014 with a group.  I took along my ipad and found it useful on the tour bus to take notes.  I am not sure what exists for Android tablets, but I used an app, Notability, that allowed me to use handwriting as well as audio recording and take photos.  Our tour guide would speak on the bus and I could take notes as well as record his talk (recording was weak, but could be listened to later). As you wrote while recording the app was smart enough to remember those positions, so later I could tap a part of the note and the audio would play from that point. I could also take a photo if I wanted and add it to the note. 

I also had the Logos app but didn't have much opportunity to reference it.  You might find that you are on the move a lot and going from site to site without much time to reflect or reference Bibles or books. 

It was helpful for me to read up ahead of time about Israel, the various places we visited and get some background.  I would suggest getting the list of places together and maybe make a clipping files that you could organize by place with background material clipped. 

Like some suggest you might just want to set back and take it in.  It goes quickly and there is the sense of information and experiential overload. 

I have a new book on Logos that I didn't have prior to our trip, Churches and Monasteries in the Holy Land, As a lot of what you visit as places are built around churches you see a lot of sites in this book.  Color photos as well as background about the site.  

Here is an excerpt of the text for The Church of the Beatitudes.  It has four photos.:

When He saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain, and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. Then He began to teach them, saying: “The poor in spirit are blessed, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.”
Matthew 5:1–3

Jesus delivered the famous Sermon on the Mount to His disciples and a large crowd at a spot the precise location of which is not known. The tradition which most Christians accept connects the sermon to the mountain above Capernaum and Tabgha, near the Sea of Galilee.

The Beatitudes are the eight blessings that open the sermon. The discourse extends over three consecutive chapters in the Gospel of Matthew, as a single coherent treatise. In it, Jesus explained that he had not come to invalidate the Torah, the Jewish scripture, or the words of the Jewish prophets. He focused on ethics, charity, prayer that comes from the heart, love and the importance of the Ten Commandments. The Sermon on the Mount, a foundation stone of Christian belief, also includes one of the two versions of the Lord’s Prayer (Pater Noster) that appear in the New Testament.

The remains of a Byzantine church that was dedicated to the Sermon on the Mount can still be seen today near Tabgha. The church was built at the end of the fourth century, but was destroyed three centuries later. Its modern successor was constructed at a much higher point on the mountain that is commonly known as Mount of Beatitudes.

The Church of the Beatitudes and the hostel that was built next to it are maintained by Italian nuns from the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, also known as the Sisters of Egypt. Antonio Barluzzi, the Italian architect, designed the church on the eve of World War II. Barluzzi’s homeland was in the grip of the fascist government of Benito Mussolini, who provided financial support for the construction. Thus, paradoxically, a fascist regime was partly responsible for a religious facility that symbolizes conciliation and friendship.

The Church of the Beatitudes is a centric structure, an architectural form that is frequently selected to commemorate constitutive events. Here, the event is the sermon of Jesus and its great significance for Christianity. The church was planned as an octagon that surrounds a square. The eight sides represent the eight blessings (Beatitudes). The altar is located on a low platform in the center of the church, under the large dome. Nearby is an arch that extends over a cross adorned with depictions of the life of Christ, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. The church’s walls are faced with high-quality marble and the precise, modern oblong windows in them offer a view of the outside world. The church’s mosaic floor features motifs inspired by the Sea of Galilee as well as a depiction of the Seven Holy Virtues.

The church is decorated with relative simplicity. It is not located above the remains of an older church, which would have given it an added layer of importance. Nevertheless, due to its great symbolic significance, two of the popes who have visited the Holy Land in the last few decades, Paul VI in 1964 and John Paul II in 2000, made sure to include it on the itinerary of their pilgrimage to holy sites around the Sea of Galilee.

Rapp, D., & Isachar, H. (2015). Churches and Monasteries in the Holy Land. (J. Weiner & E. Rapp, Eds., H. J. Gleit, Trans.) (pp. 80–85). Herzliya: Apogee Press.

Tim Hensler said:

I am going with a tour group to Israel (first time) later this year and am taking my Android tablet.  I'd like to know which Logos resources (by type or title) you would recommend I download onto my tablet to have with me during the tour and what would be handy to reference while listening to the tour guides and Bible teachers while we are at various locations in Israel.

I was very fortunate in that my cell company offered free data roaming in Israel, so I had access to my entire Logos library. But what I referred to most often was my best Bible Dictionaries (for me that was New Bible Dictionary and Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary). They're great for looking up information about what happened at different places (if you know the Biblical name, as opposed to the contemporary name). I used NBD for the big biblical places, and AYBD for the non-Biblical or more obscure places (e.g. Masada). I found there was too much detail in AYBD for places like Nazareth, for example.

It's worth making sure you've got Josephus downloaded, too.

It's still in prepub, but the DayOne travel guide to Israel is excellent: https://www.logos.com/product/54350/day-one-travel-guides-global-destinations. It's worth buying in print, as it can fit in your pocket.

Honestly, if you've got a good tour guide, that's about all you'll need.

Tim Hensler said:Recommendations for non-Logos Android apps that work offline would also be appreciated.

If you'll get time away from your tour guide in the Old City of Jerusalem, I'd very strongly recommend these audio tours. They're free and very high quality, and you can download everything before you leave: http://www.itraveljerusalem.com/tour-categories/audio-tours-en/.

We were in Israel in 2009. In fact, my avatar is the seat of Moses that was in the synagogue in Chorazin. Our tour was led by our friend, Dr. Gary Burge. The tour leader can make a huge difference in your experience. Because of Gary, we had access to places that most tours don't get to. For instance, we were at a working archeological dig in what was thought to be Bethsaida. There we saw the oldest known gate in Israel at Geshur, the city of Absalom's grandfather. As others have said, take a few pictures and take in with your own senses the experience of being wherever you are. I'd would endorse Mark Barnes' suggestions as to resources to look at. As was told me, once you have visited Israel, you will read the Bible in color. God bless you on your trip.

In spite of my prep, I used my ipad very little in Israel (3 weeks, 2013, my second trip after a 6-month study abroad there as an undergrad.) 

Some of the best prep readings came out of Bible Review and Biblical Archaeology Review; their logos status is now, uh, indefinite. 

Otherwise, I'd echo the more extensive Bible Dictionaries, like ABD. 

Male sure you save those to your tablet so they will be available even when an internet is not

available.

I highly recommend Charles Dyer's book The New Christian travelers guide to the holy land.   

https://vyrso.com/product/24454/the-new-christian-travelers-guide-to-the-holy-land 

See also ARNOLD G. FRUCHTENBAUM A Study Guide of Israel which list places and Bible Events of the Land of Israel.  https://www.logos.com/product/3909/a-study-guide-of-israel-historical-and-geographical 

If we're talking non-Logos stuff, Jerome Murphy O'Connor's book is fantastic. And may he rest in peace, he was a real scholar and a gentleman!

The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide No archaeological training needed, of course.