"Tel Arad, close to home, flowers and antiquities" Tel `Arad by Martin_S.

When the Arad Iris blooms it is time to get your friends together and get your rear end out to the fields to find the flowers. This time I got Liza, Natasha and Dima to come along "for the ride". We also had the kids, but they could not be found for the picture.

Iris Arad, Israel

This was the first picture I took and the first flower that I found with a good bloom, some had already died and many had been eaten by sheep, camels and goats which graze the area with their Bedouin herders.

Trinchen, NathalieB, Rob, Martin, Tel-Arad, Israel

When Nathalie, Rob and Katrin came to visit Tel-Arad is one of the first places I thought to take them, to see the ancient site of Arad from which our modern city of Arad takes its name. Here you can see Katrin (Trinchen), Nathalie (NathalieB), Rob and I at the "Holy of Holies"...and we could NOT figure out who was "holier than thou"....

Be sure to pick up the brochure that the National Park Services hands out at the entrance, you cand find som interesting information there, I found the following: the site includes ruins of both Canaanite city from Early Bronze Age and and Israelite settlement, though to be erected by King Solomon. There is lots more info in the brochure.

• Pros:Beautiful sites for Iris in season.
• Cons:Too much grazing of animals.
• In a nutshell:Visit during April for flowers and antiquities