The Holocaust Museum

I have realised that I have left out a day in this epistle, Friday 17 June.

We started with a visit to the Garden Tomb, an alternative site for the crucifixion abnd burial of Jesus.  In the 19th cenytury an Engalish general decided the traditional site at the Church of the Selpulchre did not fit the gospels, mainly as he believed it had been inside the city walls at the time which would not have been acceptable.  He found a site which he (and many others) thought seemed to fit alongside the road to Damascus just outside the line of the walls.  He and others raised money to buy the land which has evidence of having been a vineyard in the time of Christ and creating an "English" garden around a rock with shadows that in some lights look like a skull and a tomb carved in the rockface.  It is impossible to prove the location is correct, but it is a pleasant contrast to the arid streets around Jerusalem.

We were told that it is mandated the all new building in Jerusalem must be clad in stone leading to a pleasant harmony of colour looking over the city.

Next we headed over to the museum holding the Dead Sea scrolls.  First stop here was to view a immense model of the entire city at the time of Herod based on excavations and contemporary reports.  Where possible this is exact stone by stone.  The main feature is the temple area which was the largest structure by a huge amount.. Everything else is diminhed in comparison. The model was created as a memorial for a young man killed in one of Israels conflicts after his parents heard about a similar model in Holland.  The model is located next to a sort of onion shaped dome which is the repository for the Dead Sea scrolls.

The display of the scrolls is impressive given that the scrolls temselves are relatively small.  The entrance passage is flanked with alcoves with examples of artifacts from the 1st century that apply to the sect that produced the scrolls.  The men of the sect lived alongside the Dead Sea for 6 months a year in a monastic lifestyle involving silence, frequent ritual bathing and careful copying of scripture and other books.. When attacked by the Romans they hid their scrolls in caves above their community which were discovered by bedouin in the 20th century.  Some of the scrolls are complete and in excellent conditions while others exist only in scraps, partly due to the locals chopping them into small portins to increase the amount available for sale as well as damage caused by the Romans.  Our guide told us that all but 1 of the books of the bible have been found and these agree word by word with the later editions that have been found.  These are the oldest version of the bible ever found.  In the centre of the the scrolls dome is a complete scroll wrapped around a large cylinder.  Obviously I couldn't read it, but it was clear that the writing was neat and consistent, probably written by one scribe with 1 line inserted where obviously the scribe lost his place. Around the walls display cases contin fragments of other scrolls, some quite damaged by light or exposure.

We then went to the Holocaust Museum, an impressive modern complex that really brings the horrors of that time into focus.  We started in the Childrens Memorial where you walk through a dark chamber with 4 small lights reflected in mirrors so that you are surrounded by hundreds of thousands of lights suspended in the air while the names, ages and countries of the 1.5 million children who died are read out in 3 languages.

Entering the museum itself we found a long triangular corriedor sloping upwards interrupted by barriers with video screens.  At each point you are diverted into side chambers where  the history of the second world war, naziism and the trestment of the Jews and other persecuted populations are presented in photos, recounts and videos.  There was too much too take in in the hour we had available, but the message was unavoidable. Very sobering.