Museums and sights of Jerusalem. Museum of Israel: a model of Jerusalem of the II Temple period, the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem

Overview

This tour is intended for fans of antiquities who are interested in the history of Jerusalem. First of all, on the territory of the Museum of Israel, the tourists will see the unique model of Jerusalem of the 1st century AD, the author of the concept was the founder of the Holy Land Hotel in Jerusalem Hans Kroh, and the model was built under the guidance of an Israeli professor from the Hebrew University Michael Ava-Jonah . For the first time, the exposition of the Jerusalem model of the Second Temple of Jerusalem was opened in 1966 at the Holy Land Hotel in Jerusalem, 40 years later on July 5, 2006, the model was moved to a permanent residence in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The scale of the model of Jerusalem in the 1st century AD was 1:50, which gives the visitor a realistic view of the topography and ancient architecture of Jerusalem 2 thousand years ago. Buildings made of Jerusalem stone, surprisingly add a sense of realism. The complex of the building of the II Temple of Jerusalem, rebuilt by the king of Herod the Great, the fighters of David, the mountain of Ophel, the valley of Tyropione, the quarters on Mount Zion – all this appears realistic and vividly to the eyes of visitors and the history of the city of Jerusalem comes to life in the stones of the model.

The Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem – was founded back in 1940 by Aaron Shulov, a professor of zoology at the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus. The idea of ​​Shilov was to provide his students with a site for research; collect the animals, reptiles and birds mentioned in the Bible. Until 1991, the zoo changed its location until in 1993, opened its site in the Malcha Valley, 7 kilometers south-west of the city center. The zoo occupies 25 hectares in the valley, surrounded by the Malkha and Givat Masua districts on the slopes of the hills. The plan to expand its area to 400 hectares is approved. The landscape of the park is decorated with trees and bushes growing in Israel, many of which are mentioned in the Bible.

The modern leadership of the Jerusalem Zoo, like its founders, sets itself the task of maximally introducing in its collection the animals mentioned in the Bible. The administration is making efforts to achieve the maximum conformity of the presented species to the biblical text: for example, the Syrian sub-species of the brown bear is represented in the exhibition of the brown bear; it disappeared in Palestine more than a hundred years ago, and instead of the common African lion, the collection includes the Asian lion, since it was such lions that were supposedly still in Palestine. 800 years ago. Already in the 80 years of the XX century, almost all of the 130 animals mentioned in the Bible were represented in the exhibition of the zoo.

At the beginning of the XXI century the collection of animals of the Jerusalem Zoo contains more than 200 species of animals, and between 2007 and 2009 the number of species represented increased from 208 to 271. In 2009, the zoo exposition included 68 species of mammals, 28 species of reptiles, 11 species of amphibians, 60 species of fish and more than one hundred species of birds – a total of 2,200 specimens.

The excursion begins at the place of accommodation of the tourists in Jerusalem (the address and time of the excursion beginning is indicated in advance by the guide). On the tour you need to have comfortable shoes, drinking water and a hat from the sun.