Israel and You Spaces and Places in Israel 
Beit Ussishkin Museum – בית אוסישקין
IMG_2701
IMG_2702
IMG_2703
IMG_2704
IMG_2705
IMG_2706
IMG_2707
IMG_2708
IMG_2709
IMG_2711
IMG_2713
IMG_2714
IMG_2715
Warning: A non-numeric value encountered in /home/customer/www/israelandyou.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/slideshow-satellite/views/orbit/jsinit.php on line 17
On my last visit to Beit Ussishkin Museum I was lucky enough to participate in a lecture by Yossi Ben Ari, who is a walking encyclopedia. Ussishkin House offers a different, original and almost underground-like experience. The exhibit throws light on some aspects of everyday life in the Biblical city of Dan: How people looked, dressed, cooked, ate, fought, built houses, cleaned them and how they buried their loved ones. Located in Kibbutz Dan, SPNI’s Beit Ussishkin is a museum dedicated entirely to local Zoology, Archeology and Botany. Following a visit to this museum, you will find out that the regions of the Galilee, Golan and Hula Valley are fairly rich in fascinating finds. SPNI established the museum from concerns that the draining of the Hula Wetlands would result in the loss of native wildlife and landscape values in the area.
Examples of wildlife, with emphasis on avian abundance in the region, and three-dimensional dioramas of the diverse habitats of the Galilee, Golan, and Hermon, were preserved. This small and modest museum displays tens of mounted animals, including birds and mammals, together with a visual presentation of their habitats. There is also an impressive butterfly collection here and more surprises from the Zoology field. The Botanic and Archeological sections of the Beit Ussishkin museum are smaller but no less interesting.
Archaeological Excavation Exhibition at Beit Ussishkin Museum
What makes the Tel Dan excavations special? This is a well preserved example of a Bronze Age city with ramparts and mud brick arches 800 years before the Romans. The Mycenaean Tomb found in Tel Dan held an amazing collectio of 480 tools, scarabs, gold buttons and earrings, ivory and blue eye liners mined in Mt. Kachal on the Golan.
Beit Ussishkin Museum also tells the story of geography and archaeology in the Galilee panhandle. The museum is housed in a beautiful stone structure, built here during the 1950s, designed by architect Leopold Krakauer, and built in the 1950s by expert stonemasons from Jerusalem. Here one can learn about Biblical times in the nearby Tel Dan (Dan Mound). Special exhibitions focus on the life of man in the biblical period and the museum is known for its excellent nature films. Museum guides offer a narrated tour. Custom-tailored activities, games and lesson plans are available for all age groups by arrangement.
The Land of Jordan and Hermon Audio Visual Show
Beit Ussishkin offers nature films (for groups only) and an audiovisual show:
Films:
- Insight into the Hahula Nature reserve.
- Family Album (nesting birds of prey).
- Wondering Diary – about the wondering chickens and birds of prey.
- The Geva Diary about the drying out of Hahula (1954).
- Hayofi Ve’ha Kela (The mammals of the Golan).
- The howling wolves in the Golan.
- Baniyas – Herod Philip of Caesarea, mythology, history and nature.
The audiovisual show:
- The Land of the Golan and Hermonim – nature in the Hermon and Jordan Reserve.
Hours:
Sunday – Thursday: 8 am – 4 pm
Friday – Saturday: By appointment
Beit Ussishkin (Ussishkin House) Phone: +(972) 4-6951703
The museum is wheelchair accessible.
For more information call +972-4-694-1704
or email ussishkin@spni.org.il
