The caravan now headed north, through Hebron, Gaza and Jaffa towards Jerusalem. Roberts had been told that the city was quarantined for plague, and was uncertain when and whether they would be permitted to enter. The camels had now been replaced by horses, and the party camped outside the walls of Jerusalem to await lifting of the quarantine.

To Roberts' good fortune, the city was reopened the next morning, and the travelers were received warmly by the Governor of Jerusalem. Over the next two weeks, Roberts made numerous sketches of the city and its monuments, with side excursions to Bethlehem, the Dead Sea and the Greek Orthodox convent of St. Saba. The views of Jerusalem and its Biblical sites would become a group of about 20 lithographs - by far the largest number devoted to any one location in the Holy Land series - attesting to the importance Roberts gave to this revered place. (View the lithographs of Jerusalem.) On April 15, 1839, Roberts departed Jerusalem for Lebanon, on the last leg of his long journey.