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Shrine of the Book, Jerusalem

The Shrine of the Book is a wing of the Israel Museum in the Givat Ram neighborhood of Jerusalem that houses the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The shrine is built as a white dome, covering a structure placed two-thirds below the ground, that is reflected in a pool of water that surrounds it. Across from the white dome is a black basalt wall. According to one interpretation, the colors and shapes of the building are based on the imagery of the Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness; the white dome symbolizes the Sons of Light and the black wall symbolizes the Sons of Darkness.

From the Model of Jerusalem to the Shrine of the Book.
Exit from the underground path that goes from the Model of Jerusalem to the Shrine of the Book.


Stone slab announcing the Shrine of the Book.
The building was constructed in 1965, funded by the family of David Samuel Gottesman, a Hungarian-Jewish philanthropist.

  • The building was designed by Armand Phillip Bartos, Frederick John Kiesler and Gezer Heller over a period of seven years.

White dome.
The shrine is built as a white dome, covering a structure placed two-thirds below the ground, that is reflected in a pool of water that surrounds it.


Shrine of the Book (left) and the Knesset (right).
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel.

  • As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus, with the exception of checks and balances from the courts and local governments, has total control over the entirety of the Israeli government.
  • See more at Knesset - Wikipedia.

See also

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Location

Location: מוזיאון ישראל, שדרות רופין 11, Jerusalem, 9171002, Israel