| The concurrent
completion and opening of the new Dorot Foundation
Dead Sea Scrolls Information and Study Center, in
Memory of Joy Gottesman Ungerleider, will offer students,
scholars, and the general public an introduction to
the Late Second Temple period and the Dead Sea Scrolls
housed in the Shrine and access to related contextual
research. The study center and the model open to the
public on July 5, 2006.
“Our new information and study center, the
newly relocated model of Jerusalem from the Second
Temple Era, and the Shrine of the Book together offer
visitors the unique opportunity for a comprehensive
and contextual overview of life in Jerusalem and the
Land of Israel during the 1st century,” stated
James S. Snyder, Anne and Jerome Fisher Director of
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. “These latest
additions amplify the power of the Shrine of the Book
as a central feature of the Museum’s landscape
and reinforce the goal of our recently announced campus
renewal plan, to transform the Museum into a cohesive
experience of art, archaeology, architecture, and
landscape.”
The model and study center, together with the Shrine
of the Book, now offer visitors an enriching view
of Jerusalem during the seminal period of the concurrent
development of formative Judaism and Christianity.
The Second Temple Era model provides a three-dimensional
illustration of the landscape of the city in the 1st
century; the study center includes access to current
world research on the scrolls; and the programming
in its auditorium features, among other offerings,
a short film dramatization illustrating aspects of
the social and religious life of the time. The Shrine
itself, reopened following its complete renewal in
2004, continues to provide the singular experience
of viewing first-hand the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls,
written during the period illustrated by the model,
together with important examples of early handwritten
Biblical texts.
The Model of Jerusalem in
the Late Second Temple Period
Covering nearly one acre, the model recreates Jerusalem
as it was prior to 66 CE, the year in which the Great
Revolt against the Romans erupted and the city and
the Temple were destroyed. The model thus evokes the
ancient city at its peak. Jerusalem at that time was
at its largest, extending over an area of approximately
445 acres, more than twice the size of the Old City
of Jerusalem today. Standing at a scale of 1:50 meters
(with two centimeters in the model representing one
meter in the ancient city), this recreation of Jerusalem
is constructed primarily of the same local limestone
– so-called Jerusalem stone – from which
the city was constructed in ancient times and continues
to be constructed today.
Inaugurated publicly in 1966 – one year following
the opening of the Israel Museum – the Second
Temple Era model was built at the initiative of Hans
Kroch, owner and developer of the Holyland Hotel,
in memory of his son Jacob, who fell in Israel’s
War of Independence. The model was constructed under
the direction of one of the leading experts on ancient
Jerusalem, Prof. Michael Avi-Yonah of The Hebrew University
of Jerusalem. Three main sources guided his reconstruction
of the city as it would have appeared during the first
century, including: ancient writings, especially works
by the Roman Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, the
Mishnah and the Talmud, and the Gospels; other ancient
cities excavated throughout the region that was once
part of the Roman Empire; and archaeological discoveries
in Jerusalem itself.
Although the archaeological information available
at the time of the model’s construction was
limited, subsequent excavations in Jerusalem enhanced
scholarly understanding of the ancient city and guided
additional development of the model, which has been
restored and further refined during its move to the
Israel Museum. While this process will continue in
the future, the model is not intended primarily to
demonstrate archaeological accuracy, but rather to
evoke the scale, architecture, and topography of Jerusalem
in the historically crucial time corresponding with
the creation of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The Shrine of the Book
Built in 1965, the Shrine of the Book was commissioned
for the preservation and permanent display of the
Dead Sea Scrolls. Its holdings include eight of the
most complete Scrolls ever discovered, as well as
one of the most historically important Hebrew manuscript
Bibles – the Aleppo Codex from the 10th Century
CE. Designed by the Austrian-born American architect
Frederick Kiesler and the American architect Armand
Bartos, the Shrine is considered a masterwork of modern
architecture and an international landmark. It is
the only permanently executed example of Kiesler’s
work, designed to communicate both the physical experience
of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and a metaphorical
dimension of the scrolls’ content.The Shrine
underwent a complete architectural restoration and
an upgrade of all of its environmental and display
systems, in order to ensure optimal conditions for
the long-term preservation and display of the Scrolls
and the Shrine’s other treasures.
|
