Books in Brief
010
Small Treasure
The Museums of Israel
Nitza Rosovsky and Joy Ungerleider-Mayerson, with photographs by David Harris
(New York: Abrams, 1989) 256 pp, plus 170 photos and 9 maps, $14.95 paperback
What a wonderful idea to write a book on Israel’s museums! I imagine that per square mile Israel has more museums than any other country, and the variety probably exceeds that anywhere else. I would guess that the architecture—especially, but not exclusively—of Israel’s major museums and their exhibition techniques rank very high among museums of the world. And what indefatigable authors, to have visited every one of the 120 museums described herein.
Of special interest to BAR readers are the 49 museums displaying archaeological collections. This number may seem high, but not in a country where amateur archaeologists are everywhere, and particularly in kibbutzim. It’s not surprising that a large proportion of the archaeological collections are in kibbutz museums.
These collections in Israel vary tremendously, from the great holdings of the Israel Museum and the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem, the Museum Ha’aretz in Tel Aviv and the Haifa Museum and National Maritime Museum in Haifa, to the small, but meaningful, kibbutz collections.
The authors note that “many of the antiquities exhibited in the museums of Israel, including those described and illustrated in this book, are the property of the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums.” The department has had for many years the intelligent policy of assigning some excavated finds to museums in the region from which they came. These small museums encourage local interest in nearby excavations, a boon to the excavators, who need volunteer workers and who rely on public awareness and responsibility to protect the often unguarded sites.
For each museum, the authors describe succinctly the archaeological collections, the history of their formation and where and how particular objects were found. For the larger museums, they suggest high spots that the hurried visitor should not miss.
Specialized collections run the whole gamut of Israel’s material culture. The Hula Valley Regional Museum at Kibbutz Ma’ayan Baruch focuses on prehistory and has the largest collection of Paleolithic hand axes in the world, retrieved from its own territory. The Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography at Kibbutz Sha’ar Hagolan in the Jordan Valley is especially rich in remains of the Neolithic Yarmukian culture. The full range of the prehistoric periods is handsomely displayed in the Israel Museum, but it exhibits, as well, the entire range of Israel’s material cultures through the Byzantine period. The beautiful Umayyad stone tracery from Hisham’s Palace near Jericho may be seen at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem. Also in Jerusalem are two other museums of Islamic art: the L. A. Mayer Memorial Institute for Islamic Art and the Museum for Islamic Art located in the El-Aqsa Mosque on the southern end of the Temple Mount. Other museums display wonderful specialized collections, such as the Glass Museum, the Numismatic Museum and the Ceramic Museum, all parts of Tel Aviv’s Museum Ha’aretz.
Adding to the usefulness of Rosovsky’s and Ungerleider-Mayerson’s compact volume—5 by 7 inches—are three indexes: Museums by Subject (Art, Archaeology, Ethnography and Folk Art, History, Science, Technology and Nature); Museums Listed Alphabetically; and Museum Locations. The 170 color photographs by David Harris, of uniformly high quality and very well reproduced, make the descriptions come to life. This volume is valuable for everyone—from the casual tourist to the most ardent museum buff, as well as art historians, archaeologists, scientists and historians.
No doubt Museums of Israel will be revised and enlarged. I begin the list of suggested addenda with the following museums: Kibbutz Sha’ar Ha’amakim in the Jezreel Valley, housing finds from the nearby excavations at Jalame, as well as those from ongoing excavations of a Hellenistic tower on kibbutz land; Kibbutz Hagoshrim in Upper Galilee, with a large collection of artifacts, especially fragments of Hellenistic cast glass; and Kibbutz S’de Nehemya, also in Upper Galilee, which, like the museum at Kibbutz Shamir, has material from Tel Anafa, gathered before the excavations at this Hellinistic site.
072
Biblical Portraits
People from the Bible
Martin Woodrow and E. P. Sanders
(Wilton, CT: Morehouse-Barlow, 1988) 180 pp., $25.95
This volume exhibits “portraits” of the people who inhabit the pages of the Bible. This is true both literally and figuratively. It features 100 new paintings of major and minor figures of the Bible, which are said to be based “on up-to-date archaeological and anthropological evidence.” These portraits are interspersed throughout a text that is best understood as painting a verbal portrait of the Biblical characters. The success of the authors’ and artists’ work depends largely on the taste of the viewer.
After a brief introduction to the world of the Old Testament, the book’s text recounts stories from Genesis through the Prophets. In the New Testament section, stories from the Gospels to the Letters of John are retold. Biographical descriptions of 209 Old Testament figures and 115 New Testament figures are integrated into these stories. The authors apparently intended to create a reference work that would lead from one character to the next rather than to present a smooth retelling of the story of the Bible. Because several characters appear in more than one story, however, the result is sometimes repetitious.
The portraits attempt to express the character of the people found in the Bible rather than simply to give “the facts.” In the Old Testament section especially, “Martin Woodrow” (the name used as a pseudonym for a “well-known Hebrew and biblical scholar”) often speculates about the motivations and reactions of the figures he describes. At times this speculation appears plausible. At other times the question could be asked, “How can he know such things?”
Although the volume’s introduction stresses the use of archaeology in the portraits, archaeological evidence only sporadically informs the stories being retold. Virtually no direct mention or use of archaeology appears in the New Testament section, and its use in the Old Testament section seems inconsistent. For example, while the introduction to the section called “World of the Bible” mentions Mari and the Amarna letters, it neglects to note any non-Israelite tradition of the Flood. The use of archaeological detail by the book’s artists is sometimes more evident, but it might have been helped by the inclusion of reproductions of ancient scenes, such as those found in James B. Pritchard’s The Ancient Near East in Pictures (Princeton University Press, 1969), that inspired the modern artists’ reconstructions.
The very complete index includes over 800 people and places. Four helpful maps are also provided. The orientation throughout is Christian, with later Christian interpretation of Old Testament passages being noted in the text. The authors generally avoid or define technical terms, at times almost unnecessarily. For example, at several points the authors clearly abstain from using the term “Septuagint,” but in the same context use “vellum” with no explanation. Despite this unevenness, the book would be appropriate for a beginning student of the Bible and would make a nice addition to a congregational or Sunday school library.
BAR readers may order the book reviewed above directly from the Biblical Archaeology Society. Add $3.00 for postage and handling and send a check or VISA/Mastercard information to 3000 Connecticut Avenue N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20008.
Small Treasure
The Museums of Israel
Nitza Rosovsky and Joy Ungerleider-Mayerson, with photographs by David Harris
(New York: Abrams, 1989) 256 pp, plus 170 photos and 9 maps, $14.95 paperback
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