The museum itself is fairly nice, though unfortunately to get lunch we had to go back outside and eat in the parking lot at a little food kiosk (pretty expensive too). Upon entering we decided to check out the main exhibits, which are very detailed and after awhile a bit boring.
The first exhibit was about art and looking through a lens to see the world. There were various depictions of windows and city views. The most interesting pictures, in my opinion, were the ones not of Israel. Two that really stand out were scenes of tumultuous uncertainty in Sarajevo (after the genocide) and Chernobyl (after the catastrophic accident). Some of the other pictures showed scenes from daily life and there was also a small exhibit on windows, but nothing really fascinated me and Rachel and I went through the first part fairly quickly.
The second exhibit was more to my liking, though Rachel wasn't as thrilled. It showed the history of Israel and it's neighbors from the first bronze age until the rise of the Ottoman empire (at least, what I saw of it. We left before the end). Unfortunately, the exhibit was incredibly confusing chronologically; it jumped from the Greeks and Romans to the Umayyads, then went back to the ancient Egyptians and the Estrucians before jumping forward again to the Ottomans, etc. The exhibit was also very very long and ancient Greek and Roman history aren't my favorite subjects. While it was nice looking at some of the gods (who I can actually recognize if the faces are clear occasionally), it was rather dry. The Egyptian part was my favorite, but Rachel was getting tired of all the reading and decided she was hungry so we left early.
After getting lunch, we returned to the museum to look at the Shrine of the Book and their model of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period. The Shrine of the Book, which showcases the Dead Sea Scrolls was interesting and I was able to listen to audio about the history of the Scrolls on a little device they gave us. Unfortunately, the device had no volume control, but that's life. After that, we went to look at the model for a bit and then we took a taxi home. I think the cab driver thought we were Christians because he kept recommending we go to various Christian sites. I told him we were Jewish and he looked a bit embarrassed.
Anyhow, here are some pictures of the model of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period:
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