ENTERTAINMENT
The Israel Museum treasures include this bronze statue of Hadrian.
Ancient
Treasures
Toronto hosts an exhibit of
Israel artifacts from
civilizations past
ROSE KLEINER
Special to The Jewish News
reasures of the Holy-
land: Ancient Art from
the Israel Museum, now
on display at Toronto's
Royal Ontario Museum,
features the largest and most com-
prehensive collection of ancient art
from Israel to ever travel abroad.
Organized by the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, in New York, in con-
junction with the Israel Museum, the
exhibit is presented in honor of the
40th anniversary of the State of
Israel.
Before coming to Toronto, the ex-
hibit was shown in three American
cities. The first stop was at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, in late
1986. During 1987 the objects were
shown at the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, California, and then
at the Museum of Fine Arts in
Houston, Tex.
Canada was not on the original
itinerary. According to the guest
curator of the exhibit, several leading
Torontonians saw the show in New
York and immediately began negotia-
tions to bring it to their city.
The opening gala in Toronto
brought Mayor Teddy Kollek from
Jerusalem, and Israel's Ambassador
to Canada, from Ottawa. The Premier
of the the Province of Ontario, David
Peterson, was also present.
Arranged in chronological order,
the exhibit begins with the Natufian
culture, in 10,000 B.C.E., and ends
with the close of the Byzantine period
in the seventh century C.E.
Israel's legacy to the world, dating
from biblical times, has been in the
realm of ethics and religion. But the
selections for this exhibit were made
according to esthetic criteria, because
the biblical period proper covers only
a small part of the long history of the
area where the Israelites settled.
Many peoples and cultures
preceded the Israelites. After their
conquest of the country, the neighbor-
ing peoples, and later her conquerors,
continued to leave their imprint on
the artifacts and artistic creations of
the region.
As a result, Israel today is like a
vast outdoor museum. Beneath
almost every city and field there are
layers of accumulations from previous
cultures. Canaanites, Philistines,
Egyptians, Aramaean's, Persians,
Greeks, Romans and many other
peples can be traced through the
priceless objects which have been ex-
cavated in the land of Israel.
The collection of 200 pieces on
display represents the quintessence of
the Israel Museum's holdings. It is
especially impressive when one con-
siders that archaeological exploration
The exhibit begins
with the Natufian
culture and ends with
the close of the
Byzantine period.
in Israel began barely a century ago.
It has since become a popular na-
tional sport, making Israel's amateur
archeological society, with a member-
ship of thousands, perhaps the largest
in the world.
The earliest objects in the exhibit,
such as the carved bone handle, the
crouching gazelle, or the human head
made of limestone, all date back to
the 10th millenium B.C.E., to the
Natufian culture.
From the seventh and sixth
millenium B.C.E. (the Neolithic
period) the exhibit features a
limestone mask and figurines of clay
and pottery which reflect the forms of
worship practiced by prehistoric man.
The fifth and fourth millenium
B.C.E. (the Chalcolithic period) is
represented by three ivory statuettes
known as the Ivories from Beersheva.
They are stylistically so unique, as to
I GOING PLACES
WEEK OF JULY 8-14
SPECIAL EVENTS
TOLEDO ZOO
2700 Broadway, Toledo, pandas
Le Le and Nan Nan, through
August, admission. 419-726-3272.
ANN ARBOR SUMMER
FESTIVAL
ibday, Zoe Caldwell, Power
Center; Saturday, Marcel
Marceau, Power Center; Sunday,
Children's Day — "Rags, Bags
and Dragons:' Power Center,
Louis Nagel and Friends,
Rehearsal Hall; Monday through
July 15, Baroque Music, First
Congregational Church; Monday
and Tuesday, Pilobolus Dance
Theater, Power Center;
Wednesday, Dukes of Dixieland,
Power Center; Thursday through
July 17, "Reckless,"
Mendelssohn Theater; admission.
747-2278.
EYES ON THE CLASSICS
Grosse Pointe Academy, car and
auto design show to benefit
Detroit Institute of
Opthalmology, Sunday,
admission. 824-4710.
p
CASTLE AT
0 Van Dyke, Warren, Bruce
um, today and Saturday; Ro
bertson, Tuesday throuagh
ul
J n
16, admission. 751-6010
Y
'
WESTIN COMEDY CASTLE
Westin Hotel, Detroit, 'Ibm.
cTigue, today and Saturday;
nary Kern, Monday through
July; 16, admission.
HOLLY HOTEL
110 Battle Alley, Holly, Eric
Champnella, Chris Jakeway,
Norm Stoltz, today and Saturday,
Richard Chassler, Michael
Blackman and Tim Rowlands,
Thursday through July 16,
admission. 634-1891.
THEATER
BIRMINGHAM THEATER
211 S. Woodward, Birmingham,
"Girl Crazy," now throu.gh
Sunday, admission, 644-3533,
SHAW FESTIVAL
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario,
"You Never Can Tell," and
"Dangerous Corner," now
through Oct. 15, "Hit the Deck,"
now through Oct. 16, "War and
Peace," now through July 31,
"Peter Pan," now through Oct.
16, "Geneva," now through Sept.
24, "The Voysey Inheritance,"
now through Sept. 25, "The
Dark Lady of the Sonnets,"
Continued on Page 57
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
55