“That belongs in a museum.”
Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The Israel Museum is one of my favorite museums, which I highly recommend if you enjoy archaeology. Besides all the amazing artifacts from throughout history found in Israel, there’s the Shrine of the Book (for the Dead Sea Scrolls) and the Second Temple Model. There are other wings devoted to art and other topics which I have not seen.
Next to the Shrine of the Book is a 1:50 scale model of Jerusalem from the 1st century. It gives a great sense of what Jerusalem looked like not long before the Romans besieged and destroyed it. It also gives a good sense of what it looked like Jesus’ time a few decades earlier. One of the most important archaeological finds ever found was the Dead Sea Scrolls. Found in caves near the ancient site of Qumran along the Dead Sea, these are the oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures, 1000 years older than the next oldest. Along with those, other texts were found, many detailing life in the Essene community at Qumran. The main room has an unusual looking dome, replicating the top of a jar (like those the scrolls were found in).
The archaeology wing starts in prehistoric times and progresses through the ages. From statues to weapons to jars to pieces of buildings, there’s a lot to see!
One of the main reasons I needed to visit the museum on this trip was the temporary Herod the Great exhibit. The exhibit traces Herod’s final journey from where he died in Jericho to his tomb in Herodium. It has been extended to January 4, 2014. If you’re in Jerusalem in the meantime, I highly recommend going. If you can’t, you can at least check out the online version of the exhibit.