Fodor's Expert Review Museum of Bedouin Culture
This one-of-a-kind museum focuses on the Bedouin people, who have long populated the Negev and whose traditional way of life is changing in the 21st century. The study center (marked with an orange sign) is named for the late Colonel Joe Alon, a pilot who took a great interest in this area and its people. Housed in a circular building designed by Israeli architect Tzvi Lissar, the museum tells the story of the Bedouin's rapid change from a nomadic to a modern lifestyle through tableaux of life-size mannequins. They are grouped by subject: wool spinning and carpet weaving, bread baking, wedding finery (including a camel elaborately decorated for the event), donkeys and camels at work, and toys made from found objects such as pieces of wire and wood. The tools and artifacts—most handmade and many already out of use in modern Bedouin life—form an outstanding collection. Another wing of the museum explores the Bar Kochba revolt of the Jews against Romans in the 2nd century AD. Admission... READ MORE
This one-of-a-kind museum focuses on the Bedouin people, who have long populated the Negev and whose traditional way of life is changing in the 21st century. The study center (marked with an orange sign) is named for the late Colonel Joe Alon, a pilot who took a great interest in this area and its people. Housed in a circular building designed by Israeli architect Tzvi Lissar, the museum tells the story of the Bedouin's rapid change from a nomadic to a modern lifestyle through tableaux of life-size mannequins. They are grouped by subject: wool spinning and carpet weaving, bread baking, wedding finery (including a camel elaborately decorated for the event), donkeys and camels at work, and toys made from found objects such as pieces of wire and wood. The tools and artifacts—most handmade and many already out of use in modern Bedouin life—form an outstanding collection. Another wing of the museum explores the Bar Kochba revolt of the Jews against Romans in the 2nd century AD. Admission includes a cup of thick coffee in a real Bedouin tent, where the sheikh performs the coffee ceremony over an open fire.
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