Visiting the Eretz Yisrael Museum in Tel Aviv (blog by Avery)

We went to the Eretz Yisrael Museum in Tel Aviv on Wednesday. Three of the exhibits we went to were the Tel Qasile archaeological dig, the Kadman Numismatic Pavilion, and the Land of the Baron Rothschild exhibit.

The Tel Qasile dig was started during the 1940's, when two potsherds were discovered with Hebrew writing on them. (The museum was built in the 1950's to incorporate the dig.)

A Philistine city dating from the 12^th century BCE was uncovered, containing three temples built on top of each other, a large house, a pottery workshop with a kiln, storage silos, and a street. Twelve strata of artifacts were uncovered. We saw where the Philistines had made pottery, where they made sacrifices, and where they lived. Tel Qasile was the coolest part of the museum.

The Kadman Numismatic Pavilion was an exhibit about the origin of coins as money. Coins were first invented in Greece during the 6^th century BCE. The exhibit contained coins from the Greek, Persian, Roman, Byzantine, Crusader, Muslim, Ottoman, and British eras of control in Israel, along with Chinese coins and paper money.

My favorite coin was the Greek drachma, printed in Aegina, which had a tortoise on the front.

The Land of the Baron exhibit was about Baron Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild, and how he, along with the Zionist movement, helped create the State of Israel. Baron Rothschild was a wealthy Jewish banker and philanthropist from France.

He helped fund many small Israeli villages that have since grown into full-sized cities, as well as organizations that still work for the good of the Jewish people such as PICA, and a famous vineyard and winery. There was also a movie in the exhibit about what he would think of modern-day Israel. The video was interesting, but overall, I thought that the exhibit was boring.

The Eretz Yisrael Museum in Tel Aviv was an enjoyable, interesting excursion. The Tel Qasile archaeological dig was interesting, the Kadman Numismatic Pavilion was fun, and the Land of the Baron only so-so, but overall it was fun to visit the museum and Tel Aviv.