Israel Part Three: Jerusalem

On Monday morning, we left Tel Aviv and drove to Jerusalem.  We had two days to spend in Jerusalem before Darren had to be back at work in Tel Aviv.  The first day, we visited two museums in Jerusalem. The first one was the Israel Museum, which is their national museum, equivalent to the Smithsonian.  It houses all the national art and artifacts from throughout the history of the Palestinian region.  The most well-known artifacts in the museum are the Dead Sea Scrolls.  The scrolls, discovered in the 1940s near the Dead Sea, contain some of the oldest versions of the biblical scriptures dating between 300 BC and 68 AD.  The Shrine of the Book is the exhibit that houses the scrolls at the museum.

The Shrine of the Book is under this dome structure below, meaning it is actually underground.  The design of the dome imitates the lids of the jars that the scrolls were found in.

The Shrine of the Book exhibit

We walked down some stairs to get to the entrance of the exhibit, which is in this courtyard.  See how we will were able to get a picture with no one in it?  There were people there, but it was definitely not crowded.  January is an excellent time to go.

The courtyard to the entrance of the Shrine of the Book

Proving we were there

Darren in front of the dome

I think we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the exhibit, that's why we don't have any from in there.   Anyways, it was interesting to see some bits of the scrolls.  The Isaiah Scroll is the most famous because it is completely intact and contains all 66 chapters of the Book of Isaiah.  It was written around 100 BC and is 1,000 years older than the oldest biblical manuscripts known before this discovery.  They used to display all 23 feet of the Isaiah Scroll, but it began to deteriorate so now they only display a facsimile.  They rotate the other scrolls that are on display so only some are out at one time in an effort to try and preserve them.  It was an great exhibit and definitely worth seeing.

The museum had other exhibits as well, including a full history of the Palestine region from before the Israelites conquered the area until the reign of the Ottoman empire.  It was a great way to get acquainted with the history of Jerusalem and Israel to prepare for going to the Old City the next day.  The other fascinating part of the museum was a Jewish art and life wing.  We learned so much about Jewish culture and history.

Darren illegally taking a picture

They even had four complete synagogues that have been reconstructed inside the museum.  I have never been inside a synagogue, so it was great to see.

The inside of a reconstructed synagogue

Another highlight of the Israel Museum is a model of Jerusalem and the Second Temple, which means this is what Jerusalem would have looked like around the time of Christ.

There was so much to see at the Israel Museum, you really can spend a good part of the day there.  Since we had one more stop to make, we only stayed for three or so hours.  After getting a late lunch, we visited Yad Vashem, which is a whole complex devoted to the Holocaust, including archives, research centers, and museums.  But first, I want to show you proof about how bad Israeli drivers are.  As we entered the parking lot of the museum, we found this car parked in two spots!  There was another car parked like this, too, in the same parking lot.

This made me appreciate Switzerland more.  Follow the rules people!

Anyways, we visited the main museum at Yad Vashem on the Holocaust.  We both thought that the museum was very well done and I particularly thought the architecture of the building was excellent.

The entrance of the museum

The view from the exit of the museum

The Hall of Remembrance

As you can see from the last picture, we were at the museum until its closing (sun sets around 5 pm, when most attractions close in the winter).  So that was the end of the first day in Jerusalem.  Next post will be about our visit to the Old City.  There are so many pictures from that, it has to be a separate post.