The Jewish Museum in New York will be presenting a new children’s exhibition, Camels and Caravans: Daily Life in Ancient Israel, beginning Sunday, September 9, 2001. This engaging interactive experience takes children on a journey to a Jerusalem home and marketplace two thousand years ago. This exhibition has been specially designed for children ages 4 to 10 and will be on view through June 2003.

Two young fictional characters, Miriam and Simon (sister and brother), invite visitors into their Jerusalem home and accompany them to several stalls of a nearby market. Children visiting the exhibition can dress up in reproduction period clothing, explore everyday objects representative of the ancient world, and play games. In an area designed to resemble a home, visitors will be able to listen to a child’s first-hand account of life in ancient Jerusalem, or play musical instruments from the period. “Discovery boxes” will include various child-friendly activities, including a mosaic puzzle. In a marketplace environment, children will be engaged by a large interactive trade route map and a touch mural incorporating materials and fabrics like those used in ancient Israel. In the market stalls section, visitors will be able to participate in a weaving activity, learn about the alphabets in use at the time, and create and decorate a box inspired by one from the Museum’s collection. The activities in Camels and Caravans: Daily Life in Ancient Israel will not only provide educational and entertaining experiences for young visitors, but will create an environment evocative of life in ancient Israel in the 1st century CE (Common Era).

In addition to its many hands-on activities, Camel and Caravans: Daily Life in Ancient Israel will contain various artifacts from the Museum’s collection such as ancient glassware, carved stone objects, metal utensils and ceramics, including a playful camel figurine that represents the exhibition’s themes.

Camels and Caravans: Daily Life in Ancient Israel is made possible by a generous grant from The Gloria and Sidney Danziger Foundation.

The Jewish Museum is located at 1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street, Manhattan. Museum hours are: Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 11 am to 5:45 pm; Tuesday, 11 am to 8 pm; closed Friday and Saturday. Museum admission is $8 adults; $5.50 students and senior citizens; free admission for children under 12. On Tuesday evenings from 5 to 8 pm admission is pay what you wish. For general information, the public may call 212.423.3200, or information can be obtained by visiting The Jewish Museum's Web site at http://www.thejewishmuseum.org..