Founded in the late 1950s in Tel Aviv, the Eretz Israel Museum has featured some key exhibits in the facility situated on the northern side of the city known for its rich artistic heritage.
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Perhaps the most prominent, however, is
the museum’s permanent exhibit, known as the Tell Qasile, an ancient Palestinian city believed to have been built in the 12th century BCE, serving as a port near the Mediterranean and believed to have had a population of about 800 people.
The ancient examples of urban planning that are characteristic of the Tell Qasile include 100-square-meter houses that were built uniformly, according to the Eretz’s website.
“They are square in outline and contain two long, rectangular rooms and a courtyard, which is divided in some houses into two by a row of wooden pillars, one part covered and the other not. Thus, was born the four-room house characteristic of Iron Age architecture in the land of Israel.”
In addition to what appears to be housing that visitors to the Eretz museum can see today, visitors can see some of the some ancient Philistine pottery pieces that have been discovered since excavations began of the city in the late 1940s.
“Most of the bichrome decorations and designs were borrowed from Aegean culture,” according to the museum’s website. “Other characteristic vessels of the period were also unearthed here, seemingly fashioned according to Canaanite cultural traditions; many were red slipped, burnished and decorated in black.”
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Another key exhibit at the Eretz Israel Museum is the International Nature Photography Exhibition that has been at the museum for nearly 50 years. The exhibit showcases an estimated 100 wildlife creatures captured in their natural state.
As part of the exhibition, a contest was held in 2013 for Israeli photographers to provide photographs of local wildlife and nature.
Another permanent exhibit at the Eretz Museum includes the Judaica artifacts produced in Israel from the 1880s to the late 1960s. The exhibit includes items that were used for religious celebrations and highlights the historical significance of the Western Wall and Tower of David.
The Jacobi House of Jewelry was another exhibit that drew visitors to the Eretz Museum before it closed in 2008.
The jewelry represented a mix of relatively young Israeli ideals, a “quest for modernism”, with the older Arabic culture of the land. From a workshop in Jaffa, the thousands of pieces of jewelry that were created represented “the Israeli melting pot and the process of creating a new Israeli identity, while using a variety of techniques and diverse ideational perceptions. Many pieces of jewelry were worn by public figures, among them Golda Meir and Beba Idelson,” according to the Eretz’s website.
In early 2013, the Eretz Museum hosted the “Ethiopia: A Land of Wonders” exhibit relating to the religious, linguistic, and social aspects of Ethiopia's past,
according to a news release written by Israel’s Ministry of Tourism.
“The exhibition offers a close look at the history, mythology, and culture of this fascinating country, addressing varied topics such as the unique history of the Beta Israel Community, with special emphasis on the bond of the community with Jerusalem and the Israeli people before its members settled in Israel,” according to the ministry.
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