ISRAEL MUSEUM TO reopen the Shrine of the Book

following major restoration

 

Shrine Houses Dead Sea Scrolls and Aleppo Codex, among the Most Important

Archaeological Treasures of Judaism and Christianity

 

 Permanent exhibition presents full history of the Hebrew Bible
and underscores expanded role of the Shrine as a premier center for its study

JERUSALEM, April 13, 2004 – On June 7, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem will reopen the Shrine of the Book, the architectural monument which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls, considered to be among the most important archaeological treasures uncovered in the last century and perhaps the most important patrimonial treasures of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. The Shrine has undergone a complete architectural restoration and installation redesign, to provide for the optimal preservation and display of the Scrolls and other treasures.

 

Built in 1965, the Shrine of the Book was commissioned for the display and preservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Its holdings include eight of the most complete Scrolls discovered, as well as one of the most famous handwritten Bibles – the Aleppo Codex*** from the 10th Century C.E.  Designed by Austrian-born American architect Frederick Kiesler and American architect Armand Bartos, the Shrine is considered a master work of modern architecture and is considered an international landmark. 

 

“The Dead Sea Scrolls are among the Israel Museum’s greatest treasures, and the Shrine where they are preserved and displayed is also one of the truly distinctive architectural jewels of the last century,” states James Snyder, Anne and Jerome Fisher Director of the Israel Museum.  “The restoration of the Shrine ensures the preservation of the Scrolls for the benefit of generations to come and reaffirms our commitment to the ongoing renewal and development of our campus, home to some of the most important artifacts of ancient and modern civilization.”

 

Dating from the third century B.C.E. to the first century C.E., the Dead Sea Scrolls provide invaluable insight into ancient Jewish history and the historical context from which Christianity emerged. 

The contents of the Scrolls fall into three major categories: biblical, apocryphal, and sectarian, with the biblical manuscripts comprising some two hundred copies of biblical books, representing the world’s earliest evidence of biblical texts; sectarian manuscripts covering a wide variety of literary genres, including biblical commentary, religious-legal writings, and liturgical texts; and apocryphal manuscripts comprising works that had previously been known only in translation or that had not been known at all.

 

Details on Restoration

The design of the Shrine incorporates a variety of forms, colors, and materials that seek to evoke the experience of the discovery of the Scrolls and the spiritual messages conveyed in the writings of the Scrolls themselves.  The stark contrast between its signature white-tiled dome, bathed in a continuous fountain-spray of water, and its free-standing black basalt wall, originally topped with a crown of fire, recalls the tension between the worlds of the "Sons of Light" and the "Sons of Darkness," a popular theme in the literature of the Qumran sect considered by scholars to be the authors of some of the Scrolls.

 

 “The greatest challenge in this restoration has been maintaining the spirit of the original design of the Shrine of the Book, while ensuring an optimal environment for the preservation and display of the Scrolls,” said Adolfo Roitman, Head of the Shrine of the Book and Curator of the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Israel Museum.

 

The project has fully restored the original architecture of the Shrine, including the replacement of the surface tiles of the Shrine’s distinctive dome, likened to the lid of the jars in which the Scrolls were first discovered in 1947, and the black basalt of the wall, which forms a sculptural whole with the dome and its surrounding plaza. New exterior illumination has been installed to highlight more dramatically the spray of water continuously bathing the dome.

 

Inside the Shrine, the original architectural design of the main exhibition spaces has been preserved, alluding to the route traveled by the discoverers of the Scrolls and the cave-like sanctuary where they were found. New showcases to house the Scrolls, employing the latest lighting and environmental technology, maximize the viewer’s experience.

The permanent display featuring original Scroll documents has been reorganized also to highlight the Aleppo Codex, the oldest and most complete extant Hebrew Biblical codex until the discovery of the Scrolls, thus expanding the Shrine’s presentation of the full history of the Hebrew Bible – and underscoring the Shrine’s expanded role as a center for the study of canonical Hebrew texts. A complementary display on the theme of “A Day at Qumran” – devoted to the daily life of the sect  who lived in Qumran during the time that the Scrolls were written – will include newly excavated material from Qumran, displayed for the first time.

 

The $3 million renovation project has been made possible through the generosity of Herta and Paul Amir, Los Angeles, and the D.S. and R.H. Gottesman Foundation, New York. 

 

Project Team

Architectural Advisor: Armand Bartos; Project Architect: Nahum Meltzer; Project Manager: Unger Contractors Ltd; Interior Design: Rachel Lev; Showcases: Laboratorio Museo Tecnico Goppion, Milan, Italy; Curator of the Shrine of the Book: Adolfo Roitman.

 

The Dead Sea Scrolls

Excavated in the Qumran caves in the Judean Desert in 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls are among the most ancient biblical manuscripts in the world and are perhaps the most important cultural patrimony of the State of Israel.  The discovery of the Scrolls represented a turning point in the study of the history of the Jewish people in ancient times, bringing to light an unprecedented trove of biblical literature. 

 

Scholars have concluded that some of the Scrolls were written or copied by an ascetic Jewish sect, identified by most scholars as the Essenes, who existed alongside the Pharisees, Sadducees, early Christians, Samaritans, and Zealots. Together, these groups comprised Jewish society in the Land of Israel during the Late Hellenistic-Roman period – from the rise of the Maccabees through the destruction of the Second Temple (167 BCE-70 CE). 

Other Scrolls were written or copied elsewhere and formed part of the library of the Qumran community. Most of the scrolls were written in Hebrew, with a small number in Aramaic and Greek.  The majority of the scrolls were written on parchment, with rare examples on papyrus – and, although a few scrolls were discovered intact, the majority survive as fragments. 

 

 

 

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

The Israel Museum is the largest cultural institution in the State of Israel and is ranked among the leading art and archaeology museums in the world. Founded in 1965, the Museum houses encyclopedic collections ranging from pre-history through contemporary art, including the most extensive holdings of Biblical and Holy Land archaeology in the world, among them the Dead Sea Scrolls.

In over thirty-five years, the Museum has built a far-ranging collection of nearly 500,000 objects through an unparalleled legacy of gifts and support from its circle of patrons worldwide. It has established itself both as an internationally valued institution and as a singularly rich cultural resource for Israel, the Middle East, and the world.

 

 

The Israel Museum is open Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and holidays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.;
Tuesdays from 4 to 9 p.m.; Thursdays from 10 am - 9 pm; and Friday and holiday evening 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 
The Museum is closed on Sundays.

For further information, please call 972-2-670-8811 or visit the museum's web site at www.imj.org.il. 
 
For more information, please contact:
Shlomit Divinsky,  Rachel Schechter Deborah Kirschner
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem Resnicow Schroeder Associates, USA
972-2 670.8935 1- 212.671.5178
shlomitdi@imj.org.il, rachelsh@imj.org.il dkirschner@resnicowschroeder.com
   
 
****The Aleppo Bible Codex is published by Magnes Press and is sold online
via the Jewish Australia Online Shop.        Click here to ask for details