The Israel Museum & Giv’at Ram

One of the most attractive indoor sights in West Jerusalem is the Israel Museum (tel. 70 88 11/73). From the ticket building, walk along the shrub-lined walkway and up the steps to the main building. (A free shuttle bus makes the trip every ten minutes for disabled or elderly visitors and their escorts; the bus runs all day except 1-1:30pm.) Rock and rust enthusiasts should go straight to the archeology section- 30,000 years of human habitation in the Fertile Crescent are recorded with an extensive collection of tools and weapons. Guided tours of the archeological galleries are given in English every Monday and Thursday at 3pm and Wednesday at 1:30pm. Straight ahead from the bottom of the steps is the ethnography exhibit, which (races the Jewish Life Cycle. Guided tours of the Judaica and ethnography galleries are given Sunday and Wednesday at 3pm and Monday at 1:30pm.

The Israel Museum is also the place to be for art lovers. The museum features a section on Israeli art showing older paintings as well as contemporary works. Visitors may be surprised by a fairly large collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, and by a few period rooms, including a spectacular French Rococo salon donated by the French Rothschild family. The new Weisbord Pavilion directly across from the ticket building houses a small permanent collection of Rodin sculptures and eariy Modern paintings, and presents rotating exhibits of contemporary art. Outside, the Billy Rose Sculpture Garden contains the works of such masters as Henry Moore and Picasso. Pick up a schedule of evening outdoor concerts at the museum, and try to visit on a Tuesday night when the garden is illuminated.