One of the museum’s attractions is the Shrine of the Book, which displays the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Hershey’s Kiss-shaped building resembles, among other things, the covers of the pots in which the scrolls lay hidden for 2000 years in the Caves of Qumran near the Dead Sea. Dating from the 2nd century BC to 70 AD and belonging to an apocalyptic, monastic sect called the Essenes, some of the scrolls contain versions of the Hebrew Bible almost identical to the books that passed through the hands of countless Jewish scribes. On the bottom level of the museum is a collection of letters and relics that predate the destruction of the Second Temple and have been crucial to scholars studying that period. Guided tours are offered in English on Sunday and “Thursday at 1:30pm and on Tuesday at 3pm.

Take bus #9, 17, or 24 to the Israel Museum. (Open Sun.-Mon. ant! Wed.- Thins. 10am-5pm, Tues. 4pm-10pm, Shrine opens at 10am as usual, FrL-Sat. 10am-2pm. Guided tours in English Sun.-Mon. and Wed.-Fri. 11am, Tues. 4:30pm. Admission to museum and Shrine NIS15, students N1S7. Student annual membership costs NIS40 and allows unlimited entrance to the Israel, Rockefeller, Tel Aviv, and Haifa Museums, as well as discounts on museum programs.) In the entrance lobby is a very helpful information booth with museum maps and schedules of current exhibits, special events, lectures, and tours. Specific guide pamphlets are NISI each.