The Israel Museum in Jerusalem
The Israel Museum, also known as Muze’on Yisrael in Hebrew, is an art and archaeology museum in Israel that was founded in 1965 as the country’s biggest and most influential cultural institution. Because of its extensive holdings of both ancient and modern Israeli art, the museum ranks among the world’s greatest encyclopedic museums. It is located on a hill in Jerusalem’s Givat Ram district.
Its collections are divided into eleven sections, one of which is dedicated to Jewish art and life. This division has access to the world’s most complete holdings of Holy Land archaeology, as well as major resources in fine arts and architecture.
Among the other peculiar things on display is the Venus of Berekhat Ram, an antique statue of a goddess dating back to the 7th century BC. The Venus of Berekhat Ram was discovered in 2009 by Prof. Aren M. Maeir and Dr. Rafiq Quadri while excavating a site in the Golan Heights.
Other items on show include a 1736 temple of Zedek ve Shalom made from jewels worn by Jewish brides from the country of Yemen, a mosaic Islamic worship alcove from the seventeenth century of Persia, as well as a nail from the time of Jesus.
The urn-shaped monument on the premises of the Israel Museum has one of the region’s greatest collections of artifacts, and is most known for hosting some of the Dead Sea Scrolls as well as other antiquities uncovered at Masada.
History of Israel Museum
Teddy Kollek, the mayor of Jerusalem known as “Mr. Jerusalem,” was the driving factor behind the creation of the Israel Museum. The museum has been termed “the Louvre of the East” and is one of the world’s premier museums for art and archaeology.
Since its foundation in 1965, the museum has amassed a collection of almost 500,000 items that reflect a diverse selection of artifacts and world treasures over time. The curation process has been focused on bringing together items from many different cultures and time periods to provide a contrast and allow visitors to see how objects have evolved through the years.
