The Rockefeller Museum, formerly the Palestine Archaeological Museum, is an archaeological museum that houses a large collection of artifacts unearthed in the excavations conducted in the late 19th century. The museum building is also the head office of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
American philanthropist, John D. Rockefeller, donated $2 million for building, equipping and maintaining the museum. Rockefeller stipulated that the museum bearing his name be an archeological, not a natural science museum, and that the museum’s exhibits should shed light on the part played by the peoples of the Holy Land in world history.
The galleries flank the central courtyard. The gallery ceilings are designed with medallions, as were the ceilings of ancient Rome.
With the galleries running along two sides of the central courtyard, the museum’s first curator, J.H. Illiffe could arrange the items in chronological order. Other halls include a southern octagon containing sculptures and inscriptions from Bet She’an, and a west hall exhibiting the stucco sculpture from Hisham’s palace at Jericho.
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