ENTERTAINMENT REVIEW

Dead Sea Scrolls

Viewing 2,000 year old texts that give insight into religious practices and changed the world is an educational and inspiring way to spend time in New York City. If you visiting anytime now, through April 15, 2012, stop at Discovery Times Square where you can take a historic leap back in time. Afterwards, the tour continues en-route throughout the United States. The The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name. They are mostly scraps of animal skin or papyrus. Written as scrolls, 90 percent are just fragments now, 2,000 years after ancient scribes set down their words in Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek. Yet because these fragile documents contain the earliest known copies of texts sacred to all three Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – they inspire endless fascination for scholars, as well as amazement and even reverence for many others. More than 60 years after the first of them were discovered in caves at Qumran, in the West Bank about 13 miles east of Jerusalem, the Dead Sea Scrolls are beginning the second phase of their modern existence. These ancient texts and artifacts are on view and encompass two floors at the Discovery Times Square complex. Visitors of all ages can take a fascinating journey through the Holy Land in this once-in-a-lifetime exhibit that features the famed Dead Sea Scrolls along with an actual 3-ton stone from the Western Wall from the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Visitors are invited to write personal prayers and place them on the stone, where they are promised to be sent to the actual holy site in Jerusalem. The showing is the largest collection of artifacts ever assembled with the Dead Sea Scrolls with more than 500 never-before-seen items from biblical times including clay jars, water and eating vessels, jewelry, burial containers, gold and silver coins, and many other items that were in daily use at the time. Visitors can experience interactive exhibits, view a movie documentary of the find and learn of religious traditions, beliefs and see first-hand the iconic objects of ancient Israel which impact our world religions today. The Dead Sea Scrolls were specifically located at Khirbet Qumran in the British Mandate for Palestine, in what is now known as the West Bank. Discovery Times Square - More than a museum, it is New York's destination for discovery through unique exhibits. Here, events epic and rare come to life by connecting you to the greatest human stories ever told. Intelligent, exciting, and moving - it's the experience that counts. For more information visit http://www.discoverytsx.com