"The Rockefeller Archaeological Museum, situated in a magnificent white limestone edifice in East Jerusalem, houses the extraordinary collection of antiquities unearthed in excavations conducted in the country mainly during the time of the British Mandate (1919-1948). The Museum was opened in 1938.
The Rockefeller Archaeological Museum contains thousands of artifacts arranged in chronological order, ranging from prehistoric times to the Ottoman period, including a 9,000-year old statue from Jericho, gold jewelry from the Bronze Age, and much more. Forty-eight historical black-and-white photographs of archaeological sites have recently been added to the permanent exhibition. The photographs document the pioneering archaeologists' extensive work throughout the country in the first decades of the twentieth century."
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"During a visit to Palestine in 1925, during his British term, James Henry Breasted, founder and director of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, discovered that Jerusalem lacked a proper archaeological museum to manage important regional finds.
Encouraged by the then British High Commissioner Lord Plumer, Breasted asked the support of the American philanthropist John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller agreed and donated two million dollars, which was a relatively large amount of money for the time being. He had previously offered to build an archaeological museum in Cairo, Egypt, but was refused due to pressure from the British government, which is trying to delay America from establishing support in the region. Shortly after the donation, a site was chosen for construction on Kerem el-Sheik Hill, located around the northeast corner of the Old City walls.
The museum was designed by Austen St. Barbe Harrison, chief architect of the Department of Public Works (compulsory public works department), who drew up plans for the white limestone building, including the integration of Eastern and Western architectural elements. The cornerstone of the new museum was laid on June 19, 1930 and opened to the public on January 13, 1938.
The museum was officially called the Palestinian Archaeological Museum, but from the beginning it was known as the Rockefeller Museum. The museum was run by an international board of trustees until 1966, when it was nationalized by King Hussein I of Jordan. Shortly afterwards, in 1967, during the Six Day War, the museum fell into the hands of Israel. During the war, the building was occupied by Israeli soldiers and the hexagonal tower served as a lookout tower. There was a relentless battle between the Israeli and Jordanian armies, in which Israeli troops won and the Jordanian occupation of East Jerusalem ended.
Since 1967, the museum has been jointly managed by the Israeli Museum and the Israeli Institute for Monuments and Museums (later renamed the Israeli Monuments Authority)."
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The Museum is located at 27 Sultan Suleiman Street (just outside the Old City Wall, near Herod's Gate – a short ride from the Jerusalem Municipality).
Buses 1, 3, and 51