Go to Israel with the Arts Blog
As a consolation for lack of in-person travel, the Arts Blog has been offering occasional tours of museums, monuments, and other locales that you can take in from the comfort of your own home.
Ordinarily this time of year, many people travel to Israel, whether to see the Dead Sea Scrolls, the holy sites in Jerusalem, or see the various museums and monuments. We also travel over to modern-day Palestine and visit Bethlehem.
Did you miss the Art Blog鈥檚 previous trips? Our first adventure was in Europe. Visit London, England here, and Paris, France here. Explore Italy here and Spain here. Most recently, we visited Egypt here. Now we鈥檙e traveling to Western Asia to visit Israel, a popular destination this time of year.
Our tour will span from historical sites in Jerusalem to modern art museums in Bethlehem and the coastal city of Tel Aviv.
This blog compiled by Leigh Houck and Hayley Morris, 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Media Relations Interns
Old City of Jerusalem
Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, is considered a holy site by practitioners of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Now you can make a virtual pilgrimage to this historic city.
- Take a virtual walking tour of old Jerusalem and its walls , , and . As with other virtual tours by Google Arts and Culture, navigate by using your cursor to click on the gray arrows.
The Israel Museum
Our next stop in Jerusalem is the Israel Museum, which is home to the famous Dead Sea Scrolls.
- Learn about the Dead Sea Scrolls . Scroll down to the bottom of the page for several links that offer the chance to explore the manuscripts virtually. Another link, also at the bottom, allows you to get a feel for life in the first century CE.
- Take a virtual walk through the Israel Museum , courtesy of Google Arts and Culture. The walls are lined with paintings by masters from Rembrandt to Cezanne. When viewing a painting, if a small icon of the painting comes up in the lower left hand corner, click on the icon to learn more about the artist and the painting鈥檚 history. Prefer 3D artworks? Textiles, furniture, and sculptures stand in the middle of the room.
- The Israel Museum is home to a collection of masks found in the Judean Desert that date back 9,000 years. Marvel at one of these masks, dubbed 鈥淭he Oldest Mask in the World,鈥 .
- Tour an online exhibit, titled 鈥淨uestions of Identity: Costume from the collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem,鈥 .
The National Library of Israel
The National Library of Israel holds 鈥...world-class collections of manuscripts, ancient maps, rare books, photographs, archival materials, and more.鈥 Many of these are now digitized and available to view online.
- Explore 鈥淢aps of the Holy Land and Jerusalem,鈥 with maps spanning from the 16th century to the early 20th century, .
- Learn about the story of the exodus in the exhibit 鈥淎 Timeless Script: Handwritten Passover Haggadot鈥 .
Now we travel west to the coastal city of Tel Aviv. Want to get a feel for the city? Explore the White City in Tel Aviv , or take in the vibrant blue waters of the Mediterranean sea at the Tel Aviv beach .
Tel Aviv Museum of Art
The Tel Aviv Museum of Art is 鈥...Israel鈥檚 foremost modern and contemporary art museum.鈥 While the museum typically welcomes more than 1 million in-person visitors annually, you can also easily visit online.
- Tour the museum鈥檚 collection of art , via Google Arts and Culture. Along with installations by contemporary artists, you鈥檒l find works from famous modern artists including Degas and Munch.
- You can also enjoy a full online exhibit from the museum, titled 鈥淕ustav Klimt鈥檚 鈥楶ortrait of Friedericke Maria Beer鈥欌 (1916). View the exhibit, which offers information about both the artwork and the muse, .
Museums of Bethlehem
Finally, we鈥檒l travel to Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in modern-day Palestine. Tourism in Bethlehem normally peaks during the Christmas season when Christians travel to visit the Church of the Nativity.
- Take a virtual tour of historic Bethlehem Museums and sites , via Google Maps. Click on the names of the Museums to learn more about the museums. Tour the exhibits by clicking on the gray arrows.