More Museum Time

We headed back up to the Israel Museum today. We've got a membership now, so this morning the boys and I went along with Eric since he had a meeting there with the museum's director. Now when we go to the museum we head up the steep hillside and walk through a beautiful section of the park, which is forested with pine and olive trees. I head straight there when I go on my solo runs, and since some of the paths are paved, they are good for walking with the boys, too. Isn't it amazing that this wooded area is only five minutes from our house, and still in the heart of the city?

 

Up at the museum, we let Alexander stretch his legs again in the sculpture park, a.k.a. the Billy Rose Art Garden. Here he is near a piece by Picasso.

 

 

And going through the "tunnel" of a sculpture by Donald Judd. This one is pretty cool because voices and sounds echo inside the "tunnel" when you're walking through.

 

I thought this piece, by Emile-Antoine Bourdelle, was interesting.

Here's Alexander again, checking out the view...

While Eric had his meeting, the boys and I went through the exhibit on Herod the Great. We'd seen it a few weeks ago, but it was quieter today, so it was nice to check it out again. Herod, who ruled from 37-4 BC, is a powerful and controversial figure in the history of this region. He is equally known as an extraordinary builder who employed thousands to construct his elaborate projects, and as a jealous king who murdered his wife and sons. Among other things, Herod built a fortress at Masada and a port at Caesarea (on the coast just north of Tel Aviv), but he is perhaps best known for rebuilding the second Temple on a "more magnificent scale."

The exhibit at the Israel Museum contains artifacts from several sites, including "Herodium," which is a site near Jericho where Herod first built an elaborate palace on a hill, then, years later, destroyed the palace and buried it so that he could construct a tomb for himself in the same location.

At the end of the Herod exhibit, there was a video of the excavation of Herodium. Alexander and Benjamin were somehow both mellow enough to watch the whole video with me (it lasted maybe 10 minutes). Throughout, whenever there were aerial shots of Herodium, Alexander kept saying, "Wow!" He stayed pretty engrossed the entire time, and at the end, he started clapping, and said "Yay!" and then, "Mores," which is his version of "More, please." So, I'm glad he enjoyed the exhibit (or at least the video portion of it!).

After some lunch, we went into the children's wing of the museum, which houses some nice hands-on exhibits, a sandbox, and an outdoor "excavation site." It looks like they hold some interesting programs for older children at the excavation site, but today, we just walked around the models of ancient stone buildings and checked out the other kids who were visiting the museum.

After a busy morning, we had a quiet afternoon at home. Here's a shot of Benjamin, relaxing in the bouncy seat. He seems to be getting bigger -- and happier -- every day!