Jerusalem - Rockefeller Archaeological Museum

Beyond this is the long North Gallery, with material dating from 1200 B.C. onwards (i.e. following on chronologically from the South Gallery). The exhibits include a clay anthropomorphic sarcophagus (c. 1100 B.C.), a pottery incense burner decorated with human and animal figures (1100 B.C.), the "Lachish Letters" (clay tablets with Hebrew inscriptions, 588 B.C.) ivories from King Ahab of Israel's palace in Samaria (c. 850 B.C.), iron implements dating from about 1000 B.C. and Phoenician, Greek and Roman objects, including a bronze statuette of Herakles (second century B.C.), a Nabataean dish dating from around the beginning of the Christian era, Roman glass (second-third century) and a bronze coin of the time of Justinian (sixth century). Finally there is a family tomb of the Hyksos period (c. 1600 B.C.) found at Jericho in 1954.

The North Octagon displays Jewish antiquities, including particularly candelabra and reliefs and a mosaic from the synagogue at En Gedi. In the inner courtyard of the museum is a rectangular pool, round which are sarcophagi, capitals, mosaics, etc., and modern depictions of the history of Palestine.

The adjoining North Room contains material of the Crusader period (12th-13th century), including relief carving from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

The long South Gallery contains finds dating back to around 200,000 B.C. Among them are the Galilee Skull (c. 200,000 B.C.), human remains from Mount Carmel (c. 100,000 B.C.) and a skeleton found buried in a crouching position (c. 10,000 B.C.). Other exhibits include heads from Jericho (c. 6000 B.C.), a skull with added modeling in plaster (other examples in Amman Museum, Jordan) and a skull modeled in clay; a copper sword (c. 3500 B.C.), a pottery mould for casting bronze objects (c. 1600 B.C.), a game board with pottery men (also c. 1600 B.C.), a vessel from Cyprus (c. 1400 B.C.) and a bronze Hittite battleaxe (c. 1500 B.C.).

In the square South Room are wooden beams from the El-Aqsa Mosque (eighth century). The small adjoining room contains a collection of coins, including Jewish coins of the A. D. first and second centuries. The West Hall displays finds from the palace at Jericho built in 724 by the Omayyad Caliph Hisham. They include windows and reconstructions of vaulted ceilings with rich ornament and many representations of human figures and animals showing the special characteristics and high quality of the early Islamic art of the Omayyad period. They show the influence of the art of the great neighboring powers, Persia and Byzantium: Islam had not yet developed the aniconic art and the arabesque patterns of a later period. The small Jewel Room beyond the West Hall contains a collection of ancient jewelry, the oldest items in which date from about 2000 B.C. Particularly notable are the large gold earrings of the Roman period and a carved elephant's tusk.

Beyond the entrance lobby is the Tower Hall, with casts of reliefs from the palace of Nineveh depicting the capture of Lachish by the Assyrian king Sennacherib in 701 B.C. (Sennacherib also laid siege to Jerusalem but was unable to take it).

To the left of the Tower Hall is the South Octagon, with Egyptian and Mesopotamian material found in Palestine (much of it at Bet Shean). One of the finest pieces is a stele of Pharaoh Seti I (1319-04 B.C.).