{"id":20724,"date":"2012-07-26T23:40:46","date_gmt":"2012-07-27T06:40:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=20724"},"modified":"2012-07-30T23:55:46","modified_gmt":"2012-07-31T06:55:46","slug":"jerusalem-of-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=20724","title":{"rendered":"Jerusalem of Gold"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world; it is the Holy City (for the three major Abrahamic religions.)\u00a0 It is the City of David, the Old City, Zion and has been known by 70 different names in biblical and post-biblical literature.<\/p>\n

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A pair of gold ear studs. Beaded edge, rows of wire Cs and Ss, flattened wire hoop, alternate flowers and four-lobed buds, flattened wavy wire, granulated wire flowers, beading , and a central granulated disc with seven smaller around, U-shaped, making a rosette. – 6th century BCE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For this particular exhibit, celebrating the Bible Lands Museum\u2019s 20th anniversary, Jerusalem is the City of Gold, just as the legendary Naomi Shemer song, \u201cYerushayim Shel Zahav,\u201d says as it describes the yearning of the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem after 2000 years.\u00a0 The international exhibition at the Museum, \u201cPURE GOLD,\u201d combined with a parallel project, the \u201cGolden Mile,\u201d displayed outside in the city itself, is a fitting salute to the City of Gold.\u00a0 \u201cPURE GOLD\u201d unveils the mysteries of more than 250 unique gold treasures and what those ornate artifacts say about the ancient aristocrats of Greece and Rome, Mesopotamia, China, Egypt, Persia and the Black Sea.<\/p>\n

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One Pomegranate Three Religions by Alexandra Rudshtiyn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The counterpart \u201cGolden Mile\u201d project showcases the works of Jewelry and Fashion students at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem.\u00a0 The integration of these two exhibits together brings \u201cthe exquisite art of the ancient world into the contemporary focus of the artists of tomorrow,\u201d according to Museum director Amanda Weiss.<\/p>\n

Gold is a metal that doesn\u2019t blend with other metals, and it doesn\u2019t rust, break or lose its original glow.\u00a0 The longevity of gold makes it one of archeologists\u2019 favorite artifacts because upon discovering a golden treasure, it is possible for it to be fully intact, shining, and radiant.\u00a0 The \u201cPURE GOLD\u201d exhibit, researched and catalogued by guest scholar Professor John Boardman of Oxford University, is divided by regions, distinguishing the importance of gold to the various ancient cultures.<\/p>\n

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Gold disc pendant with chains. There are six eyelets at the border for loop-in-loop chains to which are attached small rosettes. The border of the disc is of twisted wires, then a broad border decorated with a wire frieze of rosettes, branches, spirals and knots. At the centre is the facing, three-quarter bust of a woman wearing a studded diadem, earrings, with her dress slipping from her shoulders to expose a breast, no doubt Aphrodite. – 3rd century BCE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the ancient Greek-Roman world, known for wealth and fine art, where gold was absent in their natural resources, so craved and desired gold that they imported the precious metal from the Black Sea.\u00a0 In the intricate and complex pieces of gold jewelry, one can discern plainly how the Greek-Roman culture was infused into their works of art.\u00a0 For example, earrings spiraled into the form of lion heads and necklaces slithered into the shape of a snake illustrate the significance of animals as protective powers; wreaths and head crowns as burial gifts for the deceased demonstrate the wish for eternal life like the Gods and Goddesses; a pin with the face of Athena, Goddess of wisdom and war and earrings with the face of Eros, God of Love, show the lofty admiration the people had for the Gods and Goddesses, believing in their power in everyday life. Some of the pieces also conveyed the considerable influence of Egypt, for example a pair of earrings in the shape of sphinxes.\u00a0 With all its intricate technologies and imagination, the Greek and Roman jewelry displayed is utterly spectacular.<\/p>\n

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Gold spiral snake finger ring with recurved head and tail ends decorated with punched scales.- 4th\/3rd century BCE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gold was the color of the sun for the ancient Egyptians, so knowing this symbolism is important for understanding the gold pieces from Egypt.\u00a0 Gold was also important to the Egyptians as a material because \u201cgold lasts forever,\u201d so they saw it as a stable natural material representing eternity.\u00a0 The Egyptians are well known for placing a colorful gold mask on their mummies, in order for the Sun God to sustain the body in the after-life.<\/p>\n

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Gold fibula. The bow is covered with the figure of a duck, apparently feeding or being attacked by a small quadruped. Other ducklings appear, two on their mother\u2019s back, and five on the shaft. – 6th century BCE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Bible declares that we must avoid gold, to avoid making idols.\u00a0 In the Levant and the Bible section of the exhibition, the pieces are, contrasting to the others in the exhibit, reserved, representing the belief that gold has magical powers, but only if used for internal purposes and not for show.\u00a0 Other rare and breath-taking artifacts of the exhibit included a set of belts with dragon buckles worn by soldiers in ancient China, a pin of a duck being attached by a small quadruped from Etruria, a region in Italy before the Roman Empire (9th to 3rd centuries BCE) along with an amazing collection of Etruscan fibulae, and daggers from Persia with handles in the shape of lion heads and other flashy gold armor, which legend says blinded the Greeks when the Persians fought them in battle.<\/p>\n

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Ideal by Ela Kirma<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After learning the secrets of this magical metal at the \u201cPURE GOLD\u201d exhibit, I traveled to the city, to Kikar Safra, where the street exhibit, the \u201cGolden Mile,\u201d is displayed.\u00a0 The first-year students at Bezalel, inspired by the \u201cPURE GOLD\u201d exhibition, researched and investigated gold (its history, symbolism, economic value, modes of production, etc.), and then were asked to create a tribute to Jerusalem through gold both as a concept and as a material.\u00a0 \u201cBy initiating this project, the Museum has provided a unique opportunity for close to 40 students who were privileged to personally experience the artifacts before they were installed in the [\u201cPURE GOLD\u201d] exhibition,\u201d commented Weiss. What resulted from the students were pieces of art that represented elaborate stories about Jerusalem as well as the students\u2019 personal relationship with the City of Gold.\u00a0 For example, one student created earrings made from Jerusalem stone, symbolizing the difficulty and struggles for women in Jerusalem.\u00a0 Another student made a coexistence bracelet with the symbols of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam side-by-side, epitomizing Jerusalem society.\u00a0 There is a necklace made of tickets from the Light Rail, a new and modern addition to the Holy City, and there is a structure that tells the story of Ethiopians making aliyah to a \u201cNew Jerusalem,\u201d or Yerus, as she titled the piece.<\/p>\n

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Yerus by Michal Mangisto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The works on display at the \u201cGolden Mile\u201d outdoor exemplify the past and the present, the ancient and the modern, an exquisite connection with the \u201cPURE GOLD\u201d exhibition.\u00a0 \u201cThis new exhibition and its concurrent cooperative exhibit with the Bezalel Academy reflect the innovative nature of the Bible Lands Museum and its many exciting cultural and educational activities,\u201d says Weiss.\u00a0 She continues, \u201cIt is a tremendous privilege to continue in the footsteps of the Museum founders by taking their vision and building on it exponentially as we reach out to ever greater audiences. In the words of Dr. Elie Borowski (1913-2003), \u2018The future of mankind has its roots in the past – and only through understanding our history can we build a better future.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bible Lands Museum is open Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 9:30 – 17:30; Wednesday 9:30 – 21:30; Friday 9:30 – 14:00; Saturday 10:00 – 14:00;\u00a0 The \u201cGolden Mile\u201d is on display outside at Kikar Safra 24-7 through September 12th.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world; it is the Holy City (for the three major Abrahamic religions.)\u00a0 It is the City of David, the Old City, Zion and has been known by 70 different names in biblical and post-biblical literature. For this particular exhibit, celebrating the Bible Lands Museum\u2019s 20th anniversary, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20724\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}