Rockefeller Archaeological Museum
Located across the road from Herod’s Gate, this museum is filled with local ancient and archeological objects uncovered by expeditions during the first half of the 20th century. The museum’s treasures range from Stone Age artifacts to dramatic architectural elements from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Al Aksa Mosque, and from the 8th century early Islamic Palace of Hisham in Jericho. Named for John D. Rockefeller, whose bequest of $2 million in 1927 financed the museum’s construction, the building is itself a Jerusalem landmark; its 1930s Art Deco/Byzantine/Islamic design gives it the feel of a locale for an Indiana Jones film. Now a part of the Israel Museum, the Rockefeller’s galleries and the building’s elegant reflecting pools, surrounded by a cloister garden, have all been carefully restored.
Located across the road from Herod’s Gate, this museum is filled with local ancient and archeological objects uncovered by expeditions during the first half of the 20th century. The museum’s treasures range from Stone Age artifacts to dramatic architectural elements from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Al Aksa Mosque, and from the 8th century early Islamic Palace of Hisham in Jericho. Named for John D. Rockefeller, whose bequest of $2 million in 1927 financed the museum’s construction, the building is itself a Jerusalem landmark; its 1930s Art Deco/Byzantine/Islamic design gives it the feel of a locale for an Indiana Jones film. Now a part of the Israel Museum, the Rockefeller’s galleries and the building’s elegant reflecting pools, surrounded by a cloister garden, have all been carefully restored.
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