| "The Lord said to Abraham, "Leave your country, | | | | their owner died, whoever possessed them |
| your people and your father's household and go to | | | | apparently became the heir to the household. Rachel, |
| the land I will show you. . . Abram was seventy-five | | | | no dummy, may have desired protection for their |
| years old when he set out from Haran. He took his | | | | journey into Canaan. But she was also thinking about |
| wife Sarah, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they | | | | the future, perhaps, for she (and Leah) had bitterly - |
| had accumulated and the people they had acquired in | | | | and rhetorically - asked Jacob: "Do we still have any |
| Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. . ." | | | | share in the inheritance of our father's estate? 5 |
| (Genesis 12:1-5). | | | | Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has |
| Have you ever wondered exactly how Father | | | | he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. |
| Abraham and his entourage got from Haran in | | | | . ." (Genesis 31:14-15). |
| Mesopotamia to the far away Promised Land? Did | | | | Rachel's son Joseph, sold into slavery by his jealous |
| they ride on camels? Or would they have traveled in | | | | half brothers, eventually became second in command |
| style - perhaps in a comfortable carriage? Find the | | | | to the Egyptian Pharaoh. When he died, at the age |
| answer on a visit to Jerusalem's unique Bible Lands | | | | of 110, his brothers embalmed him and placed him |
| Museum, currently celebrating its 15th anniversary. | | | | into a casket suitable for upper class burial. It |
| The only one of its kind in the world, the museum will | | | | probably looked very much like the elaborate coffin in |
| take you on a fascinating voyage back in time to the | | | | Gallery 9. Belonging to a man named Pheto, it is |
| people, countries and cultures of the Bible. Learn how | | | | typical of coffins used for nobles and other |
| ancient customs and traditions influenced our | | | | aristocrats. Coffins of this sort were prepared in |
| forefathers, and provided the backdrop to the | | | | advance, filled with precious items for use in the next |
| Jewish religion, the Jewish spirit and the Jewish | | | | world, and covered with pictures. Look, especially, for |
| homeland. | | | | two very large eyes. They belong to the god Horus, |
| Museum founder, the late Elie Borowski, was a genius | | | | who was shaped like a falcon and had unusually keen |
| obsessed with the idea of bringing the Bible to life. He | | | | eyesight. |
| decided to accumulate antiquities unearthed not only | | | | As he contemplated his eternal resting place, the |
| in the Holy Land, but from countries whose ancient | | | | Egyptian would wonder how to keep robbers away |
| cultures preceded our own. He determined to make | | | | after he died. Painting Horus onto the casket meant |
| them accessible, and understandable, to the general | | | | that even after death they would be able to see a |
| public. But when he started collecting in 1943, | | | | potential thief - and to send him a message: "Watch |
| Borowski was nearly penniless. Therefore, goes the | | | | out, for I see you! And when your turn comes, I'll |
| story, he borrowed the wherewithal to acquire two | | | | get you for this!" In the walkway next to Gallery 9, |
| Assyrian seals and sold one for enough cash to repay | | | | you can view a headless statue of Ramses II. |
| his lender for both. The remaining seal, on display in | | | | Possibly the Pharaoh of the Exodus, he was the |
| the museum, is engraved in Hebrew with the word | | | | greatest builder of his time. His name appears in |
| "leshallum." Dating back to the First Temple Period, it | | | | hieroglyphics inside the engraved kartush or elipse |
| could refer to Shallum - the 15th King of Israel. | | | | that was only used for royalty, and related to the |
| (Shallum assassinated King Zechariah in the seventh | | | | sun god Re. The sun was all important to the |
| month of his reign, took his place, and was murdered | | | | ancients, and the ellipse probably symbolizes its route. |
| in his turn 30 days later.) As you wander through the | | | | In the pagan world, beliefs and traditions were based |
| museum's open galleries, symbolically resembling an | | | | on what people could actually see. Every morning |
| archeological dig, you see for yourself how Father | | | | they saw the sun seem to rise out of the earth, |
| Abraham traveled to Canaan. You will also find out | | | | move into the sky, take a path through the sky, and |
| why the plague of darkness terrified the Egyptians of | | | | at night return into the earth. The sun god Re is |
| Moses' day, and how the ancients were able to keep | | | | represented in many different forms including that of |
| robbers away while lying in a coffin! And you will get | | | | a scarab (dung beetle) which comes out of the |
| the answer to that burning question: how was | | | | earth, lives its life, ages, and enters the earth again in |
| Rebecca able to keep her make-up fresh on the long, | | | | the evening. At midnight there is a fight between Re |
| hard journey to the land where Isaac awaited his | | | | and a terrible snake named Apophis who threatens |
| betrothed? Archeologists believe that the patriarch's | | | | to kill the sun god. If he does, the sun won't shine! |
| family may have traveled in a bull-driven cart exactly | | | | Now can understand what made the ninth plague |
| like a model on display in Gallery 5. Made of bronze, | | | | such a terrifying catastrophe to the ancient |
| the model is an original that dates back to | | | | Egyptians. Because an Egyptian who wakes up in the |
| somewhere between 3000 and 2000 B.C.E. What | | | | morning sees no sun, he knows that the snake has |
| makes it so exciting is the fact that it was found | | | | won and the world is in chaos. Should the darkness |
| right near Haran, the city where Abraham was living | | | | continue, with no sign that his world will return, the |
| when commanded to "go to the land". Possibly, says | | | | result would be country-wide panic and dismay. Did |
| volunteer museum guide Yehuda Harel, people | | | | you know that David's first wife was Michal, and that |
| residing in the Middle East long ago made models of | | | | he seems to have very much in love? She may have |
| their carts and left them at home, in the belief that | | | | felt differently, however. On one occasion, the |
| this would protect them on their journeys. | | | | Philistines had just returned the Holy Ark, and as it |
| Gallery 1 hosts a large display of knives made of flint. | | | | was "entering the City of David, Michal daughter of |
| Despite its strength, flint may be flaked to give it a | | | | Saul watched from a window. And when she saw |
| very sharp edge - making it easy for a skilled tool | | | | King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she |
| maker to turn it into knives. The ancient Egyptians, | | | | despised him in her heart." [2 Samuel 6:16] |
| who circumcised upper class teenagers, performed | | | | Could a stunning ivory on display at the museum - a |
| the surgery with knives made of flint. So did Joshua, | | | | window with a woman's disgusted face gazing |
| when he circumcised the Children of Israel en masse. | | | | outwards - be showing us how Michal felt about her |
| Why did Joshua use flint and not some other kind of | | | | husband's dancing? It was crafted in the Middle East |
| stone in use at the time? Perhaps as a gesture of | | | | and dates back to about 850 B.C.E.- not too long |
| respect to Father Abraham, suggests Harel, for he | | | | after David's rule! Or is it, actually, a representation of |
| would have performed his circumcisions with flint. | | | | Jezebel who "painted her eyes and adorned her head |
| Besides, iron, still rare in any case, would have | | | | and looked out of the window." (2 Kings 9:30). |
| become dull after only a few circumcisions and would | | | | A large, broken vessel, dating back to the sixth |
| have had to have been constantly sharpened. Flint | | | | century B.C.E., stands on a ledge in Gallery 14. "King |
| was preferable for another reason, too: according to | | | | Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed |
| legend, at least, the stone contains a natural | | | | in the courtyard of the guard and given bread from |
| anti-biotic, highly useful for mass circumcisions! | | | | the street of the bakers each day until all the bread |
| Women have been using cosmetics since the dawn | | | | in the city was gone. . ."[Jeremiah 37:21] |
| of civilization. In antiquity, cosmetics were connected | | | | Perhaps used before the Babylonian conquest of |
| with cultic worship, and to appease the various gods | | | | Jerusalem, and discovered among ruins of the city |
| fragrant ointments were applied to idols. Eventually | | | | south of the Temple Mount, this jar could have |
| this evolved into the custom of using cosmetics to | | | | carried wine, or oil - or flour for the bakers who |
| improve a woman's looks. | | | | baked the bread. The building in which it was found |
| Rebecca was a lovely young girl with perfect | | | | served as part of a royal administrative center, in the |
| manners. In the Bible, Abraham sends his servant to | | | | storage area. Its inscription reads "Belonging to the |
| Mesopotamia with orders to find a wife for his son | | | | minister of. . . " Perhaps it belonged to the Minister of |
| Isaac among his former countrymen and relatives. | | | | the Bakers. . . |
| After Rebecca draws water both for the servant | | | | During the First Temple period, Jews who passed |
| and his camels, he becomes certain that she is the | | | | away were generally buried in family caves, their |
| answer to a prayer. He bestows upon her a nose | | | | bones later gathered into large pits. In the Roman |
| ring weighing over five grams, and two gold bracelets | | | | era, however, a thousand years later, they were laid |
| weighing even more (you can find out what they | | | | to rest in personal sarcophagi ("flesh eaters" in |
| looked for in Gallery 5, which features jewelry from | | | | Greek) that they had often prepared before their |
| the same region and the same time period.) | | | | deaths. One sarcophagus in Gallery 18 tells a |
| So Rebecca begins her long voyage to Canaan, fully | | | | fascinating story. An inscription in Aramaic, the |
| intending to look as beautiful as possible when she | | | | language written by Jews of the period, reads, "Close |
| meets her future husband. Obviously, then, she | | | | this up, and don't put in anyone else!" The |
| needs cosmetics! To examine containers just like | | | | sarcophagus was prepared while the owner was still |
| Rebecca's, head for the cosmetics and perfume | | | | alive, yet it was forbidden to bury two people in the |
| display. Shaped like an animal, one of them has room | | | | same casket. Therefore, suggests Harel, the owner |
| for two kinds of eye shadow. The compartments | | | | must have been trying to get a message across to |
| would have been topped by two corks. Most | | | | his wife - the only person who might insist on joining |
| interesting is the detachable head: when the top was | | | | him despite the ban. So what he was really saying |
| lifted from the bottom it held a little make-up brush. | | | | might have been this: "Wifey, I got enough of you |
| Strange looking clay statuettes in Gallery 9 are | | | | while you were alive - after you die, find some other |
| household gods that played an important role in the | | | | arrangement!" |
| ancient world. After working for Laban for 20 years, | | | | Until December, museum visitors can enjoy a special |
| Jacob took off for Canaan with his two wives, | | | | exhibit called "The Three Faces of Monotheism" |
| children and flocks. Laban spent three days hunting | | | | which, while featuring the differing symbols of |
| him down, frantic because someone in Jacob's | | | | Judaism, Christianity and Islam, also illustrates our |
| household had stolen his idols (it was Rachel, and she | | | | common heritage. |
| sat on them so they wouldn't be discovered by her | | | | The museum is completely wheelchair accessible. |
| father). | | | | Hours: Sun, Mon, Tue, Thurs 9:30-17:30; Wed |
| Why did Rachel take them - and why were they so | | | | 9:30-21:30; Fri 9:30-14:00; Phone 5611066. Guided tours |
| important to Laban? Harel explains that these small | | | | in English (Highly recommended and included in your |
| idols were believed to look after the household, and | | | | entrance fee!) daily at 10:30. Note: The museum shop |
| to intercede with the chief gods. But, he says, when | | | | features unique and wonderful gifts. |