A Family Story

History

1970s

The beginning

In 1979, Abu Raed and his wife, Maha opened the doors to Mt of Temptation Restaurant , a place where Jericho’s tourists could receive a warm welcome and get served quality homemade food.

1980s

Vision in the making

Customers were more than pleased with the food and hospitality. The restaurant became the most popular dining destination for tourists in Jericho and the Dead Sea area. Abu Raed and Maha made a decision to expand . Since The restaurant was directly adjacent to the archaeological site of Ancient Jericho “Tel Esultan” and walking distance from Mt of Temptation, tourists needs became the guiding factor for the expansion and the vision of building Temptation Tourist Center.

1988, Abu Raed started the design of the iconic Temptation waterfall fountain and stairs. His fountain design became the Temptation Tourist Center brand trademark and logo. This is when he discovered his passion for art, design and architecture and Temptation Tourist Center became his playground

Temptation Tourist Center partnerships with Dead Sea

Driven by their passion of making customers happy, Abu Raed and Maha partnered with Dead Sea beaches to give tourists the ultimate Jericho experience. Starting at Temptation Tourist Center, Ancient Jericho, Tel Esultan and ending with a swim at the Dead Sea

The Shops at Temptation Tourist Center

In 1987, Ahava skin care products from the Dead Sea was the first retail product to be marketed to tourists at the center. Immediate success in marketing and customers demand were the driving factor of including the shopping district in the expansion of Temptation Center.

1990s

Making History

Construction continued and Temptation Tourist Center became the largest tourist attraction in all of Palestine and Israel. It served over 2500 tourists a day.

Jericho’s most memorable experience

2000s

Creating a lasting legacy, Abu Raed and his wife wanted to give the tourists more joy during their visits to Ancient Jericho, Tel Esultan.
A new phase has begun. Adjacent to the center, AbuRaed designed a Palm Trees Oasis. It included iconic Elisha Spring Fountain, cascading water garden, Madaba Map, 360° panoramic viewing point “View of Jericho”, and of course he added a Peacock Garden

2006

Thinking outside the box and exploring new markets

Mohammed, a business marketing graduate, joined his family’s business. He saw the limitless possibilities of expanding the Temptation brand. Maha and AbuRaed worked with their son on introducing two new product lines, Tempt Olive Oil and Olive Cure Skin Care.

B Beautiful Plantation at Ancient Jericho, Tel Esultan

2010s

Out of a desire to share the delicious fruits of Ancient Jericho, with everyone. Abu Raed and Maha began farming local Jericho dates and made it his mission to rescue the various types of native Jericho palm trees. During harvest season, tourists get to sample and enjoy a variety of fresh dates during their visit to Temptation Tourist Center. Complimentary dates are served to customers at the restaurant year round.

2020

B Beautiful Plantation Tour

Following the discovery of figs remains by botanists and an archaeologist at a prehistoric site near Ancient Jericho, Abu Raed decided that fig trees must be included at B Beautiful Plantation.

Throughout history, images showed Adam and Eve wearing fig leaves while tempting fate in the Garden of Eden. Abu Raed used this information to formalize his new vision for the plantation and work on “Garden of Eden at Ancient Jericho” began. Ancient wild trees such as wild fig “Sycamore tree”, “Lote Tree” already existed at the plantation. The addition of palm trees, olive trees, pomegranate trees, grapes , banana trees, citrus trees, wild flowers and herbs was a must.

We hope you enjoy your visit to
The Mt. of Temptation Tourist Center of Jericho

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