For this Holiday Season in New York the Discovery Zone in Times Square was exhibiting the infamous Dead Sea Scrolls, which included a copy of the Ten Commandments. I had saw an advertisement some time ago for this showing, and following up on it there was only one week left, so I decided to make my way to Times Square for the biblical journey.
There was also something else I was looking forward to on this little trip to the city. Being in Haiti for most of December, it had been nearly a month since I was on a subway and in Manhattan. I wasn't expecting much changes over this time, but it felt nice to be back in the swing. Earlier in the day I had been reflecting that I hadn't been sick in a very long time, and there was something in the back of my mind telling me that being exposed to the subway after a long layoff during the start of flu season would spell bad news for me. Sure enough, I get on the train, and only after a few stops the air seems thick. I can feel something gathering in my nose, my throat, and overall my body temperature felt like it was rising, all the signs one has before catching a cold. By the time the train reached the Manhattan limits I was fast asleep in my seat as all the energy was depleted from my body. I eventually woke up to the sounds of people sneezing and coughing all around me, but luckily my stop was approaching and I got off quick.
Eventually I made my way to Times Square where the Discovery Zone is located, and simply being in the fresh air made some of my cold symptoms fade. With New Year's Eve only a few days away and typically Times Square the center of those celebrations, I was expecting alot of people to be around, but there were many more than I was anticipating. Plus, there were also stages and platforms built for all the TV shows that will be airing the event in the coming days. With thousands of tourists around, an exhibit like the Dead Sea Scrolls in the middle of Times Square would certainly draw big crowds and long lines, so I made sure to purchase my tickets ahead of time online, which were about $30. I had been to the Discovery Zone twice before, once for an exhibit for King Tut's tomb, and another for the lost city of Pompeii, which was buried in volcanic ash. Both shows were well done and I expected no less for the scrolls display. Getting inside the exhibit only took about a half hour, even though I already had a ticket, alot of other people also bought tickets ahead of time as well.
The exhibit begins with a brief five minute introduction from a guide who explained how the scrolls were found in 1947 by a goat hurder who threw a rock at a goat that ran into a cave. As the rock entered the cave it made a noise as if it shattered a piece of pottery. The goat hurder returned the next day to see what caused that noise, and inside those old pottery jars were what is known today as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest known copies of the written Old Testament, aka Hebrew Bible. Experts believe they were written about 150 CE - 70 CE which would make them well over two thousand years old. The way the exhibit is displayed, first there's a room with old artifacts dating as far back as 500 CE, these include jars, a bathtub, spear heads, coins, tools, etc. Then there is a staircase which leads downstairs to where the Dead Sea Scroll are on display. They placed parts of them in a circular table, with English translations next to them, and the line wrapped around the table at least three times. Since people took their time reading the scrolls and translations carefully, treating it more like a religious event rather than a museum exhibition, the line was painfully slow and it took nearly and hour to get to see the scrolls with my own eyes. All this time I was on the line, I was still feeling little shades of a cold coming on soon.
The scrolls were written in neat lettering of the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek language, on a substance known as papyrus. Most of the writings dealt with rules and regulations for the ancient Hebrew tribes. Speaking of which, there was a seperate line to see a scroll of the oldest known copy of the Book of Deuteronomy, which included the even more infamous Ten Commandments. That line was only about twenty minutes and much more managable than the line for the scrolls. All along the walls of this downstairs area were more artifacts on display from that time period such as sandals, pottery, comb, jars, stamps, and more. There was even a mock temple wall, as the real one exists in Jerusalam, in which people could leave small prayer notes that was promised to be taken to the real wall overseas. With the items on display and mainly because of the long lines, I spent a little under two hours inside the place, and to see ancient texts of that magnitude was all worth it. So it became time to get back on the subway and head on home. Then the same thing happened all over again, after a few stops from getting on the train, I start feeling the early warning signs of getting sick. I even passed out in my seat again and went to sleep until I woke up a few stops before I had to get off. As soon as I got home and I had an orange for Vitamin C, or B, or whichever one fights colds. The good news is the combination of the orange and not being in the subway anymore made all my cold symptoms evaporate.
The Dead Sea Scrolls were well preserved in the caves off the West Bank for nearly two thousand years , but they wouldn't have lasted two minutes on a New York City subway...
There was also something else I was looking forward to on this little trip to the city. Being in Haiti for most of December, it had been nearly a month since I was on a subway and in Manhattan. I wasn't expecting much changes over this time, but it felt nice to be back in the swing. Earlier in the day I had been reflecting that I hadn't been sick in a very long time, and there was something in the back of my mind telling me that being exposed to the subway after a long layoff during the start of flu season would spell bad news for me. Sure enough, I get on the train, and only after a few stops the air seems thick. I can feel something gathering in my nose, my throat, and overall my body temperature felt like it was rising, all the signs one has before catching a cold. By the time the train reached the Manhattan limits I was fast asleep in my seat as all the energy was depleted from my body. I eventually woke up to the sounds of people sneezing and coughing all around me, but luckily my stop was approaching and I got off quick.
Eventually I made my way to Times Square where the Discovery Zone is located, and simply being in the fresh air made some of my cold symptoms fade. With New Year's Eve only a few days away and typically Times Square the center of those celebrations, I was expecting alot of people to be around, but there were many more than I was anticipating. Plus, there were also stages and platforms built for all the TV shows that will be airing the event in the coming days. With thousands of tourists around, an exhibit like the Dead Sea Scrolls in the middle of Times Square would certainly draw big crowds and long lines, so I made sure to purchase my tickets ahead of time online, which were about $30. I had been to the Discovery Zone twice before, once for an exhibit for King Tut's tomb, and another for the lost city of Pompeii, which was buried in volcanic ash. Both shows were well done and I expected no less for the scrolls display. Getting inside the exhibit only took about a half hour, even though I already had a ticket, alot of other people also bought tickets ahead of time as well.
The exhibit begins with a brief five minute introduction from a guide who explained how the scrolls were found in 1947 by a goat hurder who threw a rock at a goat that ran into a cave. As the rock entered the cave it made a noise as if it shattered a piece of pottery. The goat hurder returned the next day to see what caused that noise, and inside those old pottery jars were what is known today as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest known copies of the written Old Testament, aka Hebrew Bible. Experts believe they were written about 150 CE - 70 CE which would make them well over two thousand years old. The way the exhibit is displayed, first there's a room with old artifacts dating as far back as 500 CE, these include jars, a bathtub, spear heads, coins, tools, etc. Then there is a staircase which leads downstairs to where the Dead Sea Scroll are on display. They placed parts of them in a circular table, with English translations next to them, and the line wrapped around the table at least three times. Since people took their time reading the scrolls and translations carefully, treating it more like a religious event rather than a museum exhibition, the line was painfully slow and it took nearly and hour to get to see the scrolls with my own eyes. All this time I was on the line, I was still feeling little shades of a cold coming on soon.
The scrolls were written in neat lettering of the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek language, on a substance known as papyrus. Most of the writings dealt with rules and regulations for the ancient Hebrew tribes. Speaking of which, there was a seperate line to see a scroll of the oldest known copy of the Book of Deuteronomy, which included the even more infamous Ten Commandments. That line was only about twenty minutes and much more managable than the line for the scrolls. All along the walls of this downstairs area were more artifacts on display from that time period such as sandals, pottery, comb, jars, stamps, and more. There was even a mock temple wall, as the real one exists in Jerusalam, in which people could leave small prayer notes that was promised to be taken to the real wall overseas. With the items on display and mainly because of the long lines, I spent a little under two hours inside the place, and to see ancient texts of that magnitude was all worth it. So it became time to get back on the subway and head on home. Then the same thing happened all over again, after a few stops from getting on the train, I start feeling the early warning signs of getting sick. I even passed out in my seat again and went to sleep until I woke up a few stops before I had to get off. As soon as I got home and I had an orange for Vitamin C, or B, or whichever one fights colds. The good news is the combination of the orange and not being in the subway anymore made all my cold symptoms evaporate.
The Dead Sea Scrolls were well preserved in the caves off the West Bank for nearly two thousand years , but they wouldn't have lasted two minutes on a New York City subway...
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