Some museums can always be depended upon to have at least one exhibit that is outstanding every visit. The Israel Museum in Jerusalem is just that kind of museum. It’s always unexpected how interesting an exhibit can be. I didn’t have too much enthusiasm for this show before we got there but it was fabulous. I think you’ll agree. Especially, in a part of the world where people have such a hard time getting along it’s amazing to see how much we as humans have in common and how long we have been human. The show was called “A Brief History of Humankind” and brought together works from the museum’s collection of archaeological treasures to their cutting edge contemporary art collection.
“Evolution and Theory”, Zadok ben-David, 1998, hand cut aluminum at the entrance to the exhibitDetail, “Evolution and Theory”Detail, “Evolution and Theory”Detail, “Evolution and Theory”Detail, “Evolution and Theory”In the Beginning Fire: Burnt flint from the oldest hearth in Eurasia, early stone age“Blue Gas Eyes” Miroslav Balka, 2014, video, salt, steelCognitive Revolution: Hyoid Bone, Middle Paleolithic Period. The hyoid bone is a horseshoe shaped bone in the middle of the neck which anchors the tongue muscles as well as some of the neck. In 1989, the journal “Nature” reported the discovery of this particular hyoid bone at Mt. Carmel belonging to a Neanderthal human proving that Neanderthals could speak.Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, Installation: telephones and audio recordingsSurvival and Extinction: “Ursus Maritimus”, Mark Dion, 1995, fiberglass, goat skin, glass eyes, art crateThe Family: Charles Ray, “Family Romance”, 1992-95, mixed media and Plastered skulls in the foreground 9000 BCE all found together in a family burial.Agricultural Revolution: the oldest complete sickle in the world, 9000 BCE, horn, flint, and resinHaim Steinbach, “stay with friends 2”, 1986, wooden shelves, Kellogg’s boxes, and bronze age potteryLaw: Administrative account inscribed with cuneiform, ca. 3000 BCECity and House: Model of a House, pottery, early bronze age, 3000-1600 BCEAbsalon, “Cell No. 1”, 1964, wood, white waterproof paintSilver Hoard, late 11th century BCE“Middlemen”, aernout mik, 2001, single channel video“Benedictine Arias Montanus, engraving, Maps of the Holy Land, 1572“Kekou-Kele (Six Pack)”, 2002, Zhang Hongtu, porcelainIndustrial Revolution: Bruce Conner, 1976, “Crossroads”, video and the original Theory of Relativity manuscript by Albert Einstein.“Modern Times” Charlie Chaplin, 1936The Future: “Vacation”, Yinka Shonibare, 2000, installation“Modern Fossils”, 2010, Christopher Locke, concreteIn another part of the Israel Museum is the Shrine of the Book that holds the Dead Sea Scrolls. This building is hydraulic, able to sink into the ground if attacked. A temporary exhibit of the smallest bible ever produced was very interesting.That speck you see (about the size of a grain of sugar) is the new Nano Bible, containing 1,200,000 letters etched, created by the Technion. It’s an example of a beautiful use for Nano technology. I am attaching a short link about this amazing achievement.Text is etched in Hebrew