The Museum for Islamic Art, Jerusalem – Visitors Guide
The Museum For Islamic Art guide in Jerusalem presents various Islamic art findings from different periods and places.
Map
The Museum for Islamic Art is located at HaPalmach Street 2, Jerusalem.
Directions for drivers: Link to Waze and Link to Google Maps
Directions for public transport: Link to Moovit
Interactive map of the area:
The museum is relatively small. It has three floors with three halls on each floor. Here is the floor plan:
You can also find this map here.
Something that I liked, and you rarely find on maps in museums, is that besides the name of each hall, you can see the estimated time of a visit. And you can also see that exhibitions have numbers beside them. That is the recommended visiting order. We followed the suggested order and started with the exhibits on the ground floor.
Directions
You can reach the museum either by car or by public transport.
If driving, enter “HaPalmach Street 2, Jerusalem” into the navigation app. And when it comes to parking, you will probably have to look for it on nearby streets.
Street parking where the curb is either gray (free) or painted blue and white (paid), on Hapalmach Street, Hagedud Ha’ivri Street and Chopin Street.
On Saturday, the Museum parking lot is open to visitors free of charge, based on space available.
Note: unless stated otherwise, all quotes were taken from the official site.
When it comes to public transport, you can use bus #13, #32, or #15 to get there. Here is a link to Moovit, where you can update your starting point and get updated directions.
Opening Hours
Sunday: Closed
Monday – Wednesday: 10:00 – 15:00
Thursday: 10:00 – 19:00
Friday – Saturday: 10:00-14:00
Entrance Fee
Adult: 44 NIS
Child (5-18): 25 NIS
Israeli Senior: 22 NIS
Children under the age of 5 enter for free.
Opening hours and ticket prices were updated in December 2022. In any case, recheck the official site before visiting.
Accessibility
The museum is accessible.
Entrance for the disabled is via the Museum parking lot. Prior arrangement by phone is possible: 02-5661291.
L.A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art
The Museum for Islamic Art is also called L.A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art. Vera Bryce Salomons, the museum’s founder, gave the second name in memory of her professor, Leo Aryeh Mayer, rector of Hebrew University, a scholar of Islamic art who died 15 years before.
About the Museum
The Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem opened in 1974. It is devoted to the collection, preservation, and exhibition of art objects and archaeological artifacts that represent Islamic art across the ages, through conquests and regime changes, from the 7th to the 19th centuries.
In the more than four decades of its existence, the museum has earned a reputation as the home of one of the most important collections of Islamic art in the world, and the only one of its kind in Israel. The permanent display gives a broad view of, and a deep insight into, the artistic treasures of the Muslim world that extended over Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan and India, and west as far as Spain. These treasures – ancient pages of the Qur’an; utilitarian items of pottery, metal, and glass; and luxury items such as jewelry, ornaments, and rugs – reflect the wealth of forms and styles that characterize Islamic art.
Workshops for Kids and Adults
The museum houses Islamic pottery, textiles, jewelry, ritual objects, other Islamic cultural artifacts, and a watches collection. And I heard the story about the watch’s burglary (we will reach it later) in the news and wanted to see them. But we traveled with our daughter (she was in the first grade). And we decided to visit this museum because of the extra activities and workshops for kids. Unfortunately, we have not found anything specific on the website, but we decided to visit it anyway.
Tours
A private family tour of the permanent exhibits is available – and recommended. (Reservation is required.) Also, over the holidays and during school vacations, you are invited to take part in activities at the museum, including a high-quality children’s stage performance.
Here are the contact details of the tour coordinator: 02-5358716, khadeeja@iam.org.il
Workshops
We have a rich selection of art workshops at the museum. Why not include one in your visit? And at the end of the activity, you can take home a souvenir that you and your children have made. Workshops are about one hour long and are included in the entrance fee to the Museum.
Unfortunately, in the end, we did not participate in any workshops.
I noticed an events section when I checked the official site after our visit. You can see the full timetable of tours, lectures, workshops, and more.
Ground Floor – Introduction to Islamic Religion and Art
Ground Floor, the first floor, starts with The story of Islam.
The Story of Islam
The exhibition presents the basic concepts of understanding Islamic art through various eras. That is the only area of the museum that is not based on a chronological design. It houses rare exhibits that convey the development of the artistic idiom that is unique to Islamic art and incorporates sound and light elements. The visitors enter the hall are greeted by a movie which describes the ritual of walking around the Kaaba, and they encounter a Mihrab prayer niche made of Armenian designed ceramic tiles.
The two principal elements in the exhibition are an artistic section in a religious context and a part that focuses on the contribution of Islam to the world relating to the sciences, technology music and other areas.
The main hall on the first floor tells about Islam and shows various artifacts, including art pieces, technological items, musical instruments, and early writings.
Examples of ancient writings:
And this is a Qibla indicator and a compass. The painted wooden instrument has a needle, which indicates the direction to Mecca, and a compass. The inside of the lid shows a depiction of Mecca and the Kaba. And at the bottom, there is a world map with a list of cities and countries.
This instrument originated in Istambul, and it is dated to 1738.
Here is the Oud. The oud is a short-neck lute-type, a pear-shaped stringed instrument with 11 or 13 strings grouped in 5 or 6 courses. It is Arab music’s most important instrument and the ancestor of the modern guitar.
And if you love music and old instruments, check out Hebrew Music Museum in Jerusalem.
The Harari Hoard
The Harari Hoard is a rare treasure that belonged to collector and scholar Ralph Harari. The collection includes 20 silver items from the 11th and 12th centuries. This collection is unique since the vessels are made from silver (thus in excellent condition) and not bronze or brass as accepted in Islam.
The hoard was discovered in a large pitcher in northern Iran, in the city Nohawad. The treasure trove, which includes perfume bottles, incense vessels, jewelry boxes, drinking utensils, small bowls, and horse harnesses, was probably buried by a merchant who, for some unknown reason, was forced to dispense with it. The items in the hoard were made in a variety of styles, and it appears they were made in different workshops and acquired in the Khurasan region of eastern Iran. Their decorative techniques also cover a range of styles: engraving, relief, niello settings, and gilding. The decorative features of the items in the hoard are consistent with the features of Islamic art: inscriptions, arabesques, filigree, figures of animals and birds.
This Astrolabe was made in 1727 in North Africa. The astrolabe is used to determine the direction to Mecca, the time of prayers, and the horoscope.
Chess
Chess evolved in India and reached Europe with the Arabs after conquering Iran in the 7th century. And as chess traveled through continents, it changed some of the figures. For example, the queen (vizier) is the piece that changed its sex and character in the 12th century. This change occurred since the position of the vizier, a high-ranking political advisor or minister, was unfamiliar in Europe.