Israel Museum, Jerusalem

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem is Israel’s largest cultural institution and is ranked among the world’s leading art and archeology museums. Founded in 1965, the Israel Museum, Jerusalem was extensively extended and refurbished reopening in 2010. The focus of the museum is on the art, Judaica and ancient artifacts of the Land of Israel and beyond, featuring the most extensive holdings of Biblical and Holy Land archeology in the world. The museum has a collection of nearly 500,000 objects, representing a full scope of world material culture.

Inside The Museum

Israel Museum, Jerusalem via Kym Rohman, on Flickr

While there is loads to see at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, there are a number of stand-out highlights. The Shrine of the Book houses the Dead Sea Scrolls which are some of the oldest Biblical scrolls ever found. Adjacent to this is an amazing model of Second Temple Era Jerusalem which reconstructs the topography and architectural character of the city as it was prior to its destruction by the Romans in 66 CE.

Within the main museum galleries are thousands of archaeological artifacts, pieces of artwork, and Judaic history. Since re-opening innovative exhibitions of modern and interactive art have brought the museum to life, whilst life-size reproductions of synagogues from diverse corners of the world are fascinating especially in the way they enable you to imagine you are thousands of miles away.