[IL] Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem – Veljača 2015.

Delve deeper into the Bible by learning about the lives of the people who populated the Ancient Near East at the award-winning Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem. Founded by the late Dr. Elie Borowski and his wife Batya, the Bible Lands Museum’s extensive collection helps visitors gain a more intimate understanding of the Bible by discovering the daily practices of people who lived during that period: how they cooked, how they worshiped, how they buried their dead, how they made weapons, and how they wore jewelery, among many other aspects.

The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem (BLMJ) is located on Museum Row, and the collection draws from the vast geographic area reaching from Afghanistan in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, from the Caucasian mountains in the north to Nubia (today’s Sudan) in the south.

As you follow the path of Abraham from Ur through today’s Israel into Egypt, you can meet the Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, and Phoenicians, and explore how they lived in the Fertile Crescent, the cradle of civilization.

The collection dates from the dawn of civilization, focusing on the pre-historic era 6,000 years ago to the Byzantine Era, up until 1450 CE. Through interactive exhibitions, the museum also aims to draw parallels among the monotheistic religions and give visitors a better understanding of the ancient cultures in this region that gave birth to the Bible.

*All programs subject to change.

Exhibitions:

New Exhibition – By the Rivers of Babylon
Opening: February 2^nd, 2015

By the Rivers of Babylon is a story of survival.
This exhibition traces the epic saga of the Judean people from Jerusalem, capital of the Judeans in 604 BCE through their rebuilding of their lives by the rivers of Babylon in Al Yahudu, literally, the City of Judah.

Through never before seen ancient documents, we follow the families and their journey from the siege of the city and the destruction of the Temple, to their exile and resettlement in Babylonia; tracing the lives of the first generations who witnessed the history that irrevocably changed the future of the Jewish people.

DIONYSUS:  Wine & Divine

A brief encounter with the god of wine, intoxication and ecstasy, and his frenzied entourage in this display of enchanting artifacts, many of which are being exhibited for the first time.

Permanent Exhibition

The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem houses one of the world’s most important collections of ancient Near Eastern artifacts, illustrating the world of the Hittites, the Phoenicians, the civilizations of Greece and Rome and the importance of Canaan, Judea and Israel at the cross-roads of the ancient world.

Glories of Ancient Greece – Closing: April 2015

The oldest jewelry in the museum is found in this exhibition, part of a large collection of silver and gold items, which also includes a magnificent gold wreath from the Hellenistic period, necklaces, rare gold and crystal earrings and beautiful bracelets. Gold and silver were relatively rare in ancient Greece until Alexander the Great’s successful campaign against the Persians, when his conquest resulted in tremendous amount of gold and silver booty flowing into Greece, some of which ended up in the museum’s collection. The exhibit also features an extensive collection of Greek pottery from over 3,500 years ago, with vases portraying scenes from Greek mythology that represented the height of artistic ingenuity at the time.

Roman Fresco Room

From Pompeii to Jerusalem: The frescoes in this collection are believed to be from the villas of Boscotrecase, a suburb of Pompeii that was frozen in time with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. Sealed beneath the lava, they were preserved for centuries and still retain their vibrant colors and fine detailed painting. The beautiful frescoes, made in the Roman technique of wet plaster painting, portray magical panoramic views of nature, mythology, erotica and more. One of the prominent pieces from the collection is the “Erotic Scene of a Nude Nymph.” *On view by request only.

Daily Guided Tours: Free with Museum admission

Sunday – Friday                                        English 10:30, Hebrew 11:00

Additional tour on Wednesdays           English 17:30, Hebrew 18:00

Saturday                                                    Hebrew 11:30

Reserve tours in additional languages and groups in advance: contact@blmj.org

Special Friday – Mother Tongue

Guided tours in the languages of the Jewish people, inspired by the new exhibition – By the Rivers of Babylon.
Friday, February 20, 11:00 A-Groisse-Metzie
From Abraham to the Babylonian Exile – through the museum galleries and the new exhibition.
Guide: Daniel Ashkenazi

Lectures:

Wednesday at 19:30 | Free with Museum admission*

4/2/15 – 12^th Annual Dr. Elie Borowski Memorial Lecture

Ancient Voices from the Clay: The Al-Yahudu Archive in the Jewish World Today, Dr. Irving L. Finkel, The British Museum, English

11/2/15 – Exile, Dispersion, Diaspora: What Does it Really Mean?, Dr. Noah Hacham, Hebrew Univ., Hebrew

18/2/15 – Between Tel Aviv (of Babylon) and Jerusalem: Ezekiel as Constructor of Babylonian-Exilic Ideology, Dr. Dalit Rom-Shiloni, Tel-Aviv Univ., Hebrew

25/2/15 – Second Isaiah – Prophet of Consolation, Prof. Shalom Paul, Hebrew Univ., Hebrew

Courses
BLMJ presents fascinating courses featuring top experts and lecturers.

A New Jerusalem in Babylon
Opens: February 25, for 9 meetings (2 lectures per meeting).
Wednesdays  16:00-19:00
The village of the Jews, Al-Yahudu, was the Babylonian name for Jerusalem in Judah, as well as a town of Judean exiles in Babylonia, now known to us from a new archive of documents that will have their world premier in the exhibition “By the Rivers of Babylon” at the BLMJ.
Course participants will have the unique opportunity to explore these phenomenal documents, reading from the original cuneiform text. Experience first hand the lives and times of the Judean exiles following their family life and their working life in the date plantations, barley fields and animals.
No previous knowledge of Akkadian or Cuneiform required.
Course in Hebrew.

Jerusalem in Babylonia – Academic Conference
in collaboration with The Israeli Society for Assyriology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies and The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center
in conjunction with the exhibition By the Rivers of Babylon
2-3 February 2015
Lectures and a special program at the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center in Or Yehudah

The conference will provide a first glance at the life and times of a Jewish community at the very start of the Babylonian Diaspora.