5 Best Sights in West Jerusalem, Jerusalem

This world-class museum shines after a massive makeover that brought modern exhibits and state-of-the-art technology. The Dead Sea Scrolls are certainly the museum's most important collection. A Bedouin boy discovered the first of the 2,000-year-old parchments in 1947 in a Judean Desert cave, overlooking the Dead Sea. Of the nine main scrolls and bags full of small fragments that surfaced over the years, many of the most important and most complete are preserved here; the Antiquities Authority holds the rest of the parchments, and a unique copper scroll is in Jordan. The white dome of the Shrine of the Book, the separate pavilion in which the scrolls are housed, was inspired by the lids of the clay jars in which the first ones were found.

The scrolls were written in the Second Temple period by a fiercely zealous, separatist, and monastic Jewish sect, widely identified as the Essenes. Archaeological, laboratory, and textual evidence dates the earliest of the scrolls to the 2nd century BC; none could have been written later than AD 68, the year in which their home community, known today as Qumran, was destroyed by the Romans. The parchments, still in an extraordinary state of preservation because of the dryness of the Dead Sea region, contain the oldest Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament ever found, authenticating the almost identical Hebrew texts still in use today. The sectarian literature provides an insight into this esoteric community. The early-medieval Aleppo Codex, on display in the small lower gallery under the white dome, is considered the most authoritative text of the Hebrew Bible in existence.

The quarter-acre outdoor 1:50 scale model, adjacent to the Shrine of the Book, represents Jerusalem as it was on the eve of the Great Revolt against Rome (AD 66). It was designed in the mid-1960s by the late Professor Michael Avi-Yonah, who relied on considerable data gleaned from Roman-period historians, important Jewish texts, and even the New Testament, and based some of his generic reconstructions (villas, a theater, markets, etc.) on Roman structures that have survived across the ancient empire. Later archaeological excavations have sometimes confirmed and sometimes challenged Avi-Yonah's sharp intuition, and the model has been updated occasionally to incorporate new knowledge. The available audio guide is a worthwhile aid in deciphering the site.

Taken together, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the huge model, and Roman-period exhibits in the Archaeology Wing evoke the turbulent and historically momentous Second Temple period. That was the era from which Christianity emerged; when the Romans razed the Temple in Jerusalem, it compelled a slow revolution in Jewish life and religious practice that has defined Judaism to this day.

The Archaeology Wing highlights many artifacts (in the Canaanite, Israelite, and Hellenistic-Roman sections) that offer evocative illustrations of familiar biblical texts. Don't miss the small side rooms devoted to glass, coins, and the Hebrew script.

Jewish Art and Life is the name for the wing made up mostly of finely wrought Jewish ceremonial objects (Judaica) from widely disparate communities. The "synagogue route" includes reconstructed old synagogues from India, Germany, Italy, and Suriname.

The Art Wing is a slightly confusing maze spread over different levels, but if you have patience and time, the payoff is great. Older European art rubs shoulders with modern works, contemporary Israeli art, design, and photography. Landscape architect Isamu Noguchi designed the open-air Art Garden. Crunch over the gravel amid works by Daumier, Rodin, Moore, Picasso, and local luminaries.

The Youth Wing mounts one major new exhibition a year, interactive and often adult-friendly, designed to encourage children to appreciate the arts and the world around them, or to be creative in a crafts workshop. Parents with younger kids will also be grateful for the outdoor play areas.

The vegetarian/dairy café, Offaime, is a great place for a light meal or coffee. The more expensive Modern has tempting meat and fish combinations and remains open beyond museum hours. The lockers and ATM in the museum's entrance hall are useful. Large bags or packs have to be checked. Photography (without flash) is allowed everywhere except in the Shrine of the Book. Check the website for summer days with longer hours and free entrance for kids.

Officially the Gottesman Family Israel Aquarium Jerusalem, this new spot is the first public aquarium in Israel. You can combine a visit with the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens next door and see all kinds of aquatic life from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea's coral reefs and beyond. The museum is dedicated to the conservation of Israel's marine habitats, and its modern exhibits have high-tech digital displays. A devoted and knowledgeable staff guides visitors through the experience. Public transportation reaches as far as the Zoo's main entrance.

Spread over a scenic 62-acre ridge among Jerusalem's hilly southern neighborhoods, this zoo has many of the usual species that delight zoo visitors everywhere: monkeys and elephants, snakes and birds, and all the rest. But it goes much further, focusing on two groups of wildlife. The first is creatures mentioned in the Bible that have become locally extinct, some as recently as the 20th century. Among these are Asian lions, bears, cheetahs, the Nile crocodile, and the Persian fallow deer. The second focus is on endangered species worldwide, among them the Asian elephant and rare macaws.

This is a wonderful place to let kids expend some energy—there are lawns and playground equipment—and allow adults some downtime from touring. Early morning and late afternoon are the best hours in summer; budget 2½ hours to see (almost) everything. A wagon train does the rounds of the zoo, at a nominal fee of NIS 3 (not on Saturday and Jewish holidays). The Noah's Ark Visitors Center has a movie and computer programs; check the zoo website for animal feeding times. The zoo is served by city routes 26A (from Central Bus Station) and 33 (from Mount Herzl). The ride is about 30 minutes; a cab would take 15 minutes from Downtown hotels.

Most archaeological museums group artifacts according to their place of origin, but the curators here favor a chronological display, seeking cross-cultural influences within any given era. The exhibits cover more than 6,000 years—from the prehistoric Neolithic period (Late Stone Age) to that of the Byzantine Empire—and sweep geographically from Afghanistan to Sudan. Rare clay vessels, fertility idols, cylinder seals, ivories, and sarcophagi fill the soaring, naturally lighted galleries. Look for the ancient Egyptian wooden coffin, in a stunning state of preservation. Plan on an hour to see the permanent exhibition—a guided tour will enhance the experience—and check out the temporary exhibitions downstairs.

For kids, this may be the city's best rainy-day option, but don't wait for a rainy day to enjoy the museum. Along with a range of intriguing, please-touch interactive equipment that demonstrates scientific principles in a fun environment, there is a lot of innovation and creativity—not least of all in the changing exhibits. Explanations are in English, and Hebrew University science students, as many as 20 at a time on busy weekends, are on hand to explain exhibit displays and host workshops.