Rockefeller Archaeological Museum

A magnificent building housing an equally magnificent collection of antiquities unearthed in the Holy Land during the British Mandate period, the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum is a testament to the wealth of civilizations that played parts in the history – and prehistory – of the land. The museum was established by James Henry Breasted, the founder and director of the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute, who, during a trip to Palestine in 1925, was appalled to discover that Jerusalem had no proper archaeological museum. Breasted enlisted the assistance of American philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who donated 2 million US$ to the project.

The site chosen for the building was just to the northeast of the Old City on Sultan Suliman Street. When it was opened in 1938, the museum was officially called the Palestine Archaeological Museum, but even then was widely known as the Rockefeller Museum.

During the 1967 Six-Day War, Israeli soldiers captured the distinct hexagonal building and used its towers as lookouts. Since Israel consolidated its control of east Jerusalem, the museum has been jointly managed by the Israel Museum and the Israel Antiquities Authority, which also keeps its main offices in the building. Like the exhibitions at the Bible Lands Museum, the Rockefeller Museum’s many important artifacts are displayed chronologically – the oldest dates back one million years.

Notable among these are original 8th-century wooden panels from the Al-Aqsa Mosque and 12th-century marble lintels from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, as well as findings from the Lachish, Ashkelon and Megiddo cities.