The Israel Museum

This is not A museum but a bunch of museums, each of which could be a half day visit. It has the world's most comprehensive collections of the archaeology of the Holy Land, a wing about Jewish art and life, and large collections of the fine arts, not only Israeli Art, but European Art, Modern Art, Contemporary Art, Prints and Drawings, Photography, Design and Architecture, Asian Art, African Art, Oceanic Art, and Arts of the Americas.

I had unfortunately short visits to only three, just peeking in the doors of the art museums.

The Shrine of the Book is a really cool cylindrical partly submerged in the earth that really exhibits only two things: the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Aleppo Codex. The Dead Sea scrolls of course are the oldest records of the Bible dating back to 300BC to 100AD. They are nicely exhibited along with some displays of the culture of the people who created them. The other copy of the Bible there is the oldest Hebrew version and until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest Bible in existence having been written in the 10th century.. It was the property of the Synagogue in Aleppo Syria and was thought to have been destroyed when rioting Arabs attacked the Jewish people of Aleppo in 1948 and burned the Synagogue to the ground. However, somehow it was saved and hidden before being smuggled out in the 1950's.

The Archaeology wing is now officially my my "Best Archaeology Museum Ever" with fantastic displays of amazing artefacts going all the back to prehistory and ending in the Ottoman era. They weave together the story of technological innovation and everyday life.

The wing for Jewish Art and Life is a great educational experience where you see the history of the Jewish people presented through costumes and jewelry, stories of life through birth, marriage etc and many other aspects of Jewish culture.

One other display is a huge model of Jerusalem at the time of Herod just before the destruction of the Second Temple. Quite impressive.Read more