--- The Dead Sea Scrolls ---

Coyote and I visited the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. We chose a weekday afternoon so the museum was not packed. Fragments were located under glass in a circular counter. These pieces of paper and parchment are over 2000 years old so special measures have to be taken to keep them from just falling apart. No camera flashes, for instance.

Most of the volume of the exhibit was context - the history and geography of the region. The jars that the scrolls were found in were also amply represented.

The artifacts were presented in their Biblical context, which surprised me. I keep saying that Denver is a secular city and I keep seeing and hearing things that contradict me. Of course, it is secular in comparison to where I came from - the Bible Belt - but religion is quite alive and well in Denver.

For a time, the Dead Sea Scrolls were thought by academicians to have been completed after the first century because of the startlingly accurate depictions of the life and crucifixion of Christ in the book of Isaiah, which was there in it's entirety (with several copies). But when the finds were dated as coming from the intertestamental period, that sorta threw a monkey wrench into the current theories.

If you want to see some highlights, check this site - Overview and Sneak Peek.

http://www.dmns.org/dead-sea-scrolls/overview

Look quickly because this is a traveling exhibit.

If you have a local museum, it likely hosts traveling exhibits. Check one out. Traveling exhibits are there and gone but they usually have special appeal and draw large crowds, so you might want to attend on a weekday if you can.

--- Museums ---

2016

Museums are great places to learn.

Just visiting a museum provides opportunities to pick up things you didn't know before - not too good for picking up practical knowledge or skills. but many museums offer classes, workshops and field trips.

I've never lived in an area that didn't have museums. Most of the museums around Valley, Alabama, where I grew up, were in nearby cities like Opelika, Auburn, and Columbus, but the University at Auburn was packed with museums and I see that at least one old closed mill has been turned into a historic museum in Lanett, Alabama (It's called The Cannery).

Most university buildings maintain displays. I used to enjoy walking through the buildings at Auburn University. The art school was practically an art museum itself, hosting exhibits of the works of well known artists and showing the works of students. Between building were places like the Arboretum and the Eagle mascot's aviary.

Large towns are often cultural centers. Denver is loaded with museums and theaters. Within my hiking range is an outdoor art museum and a great paleontology museum. And then there's Dinosaur Ridge which includes two indoor museums and the side of a mountain.

I maintain a family membership with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science which provides exhibits, films, IMax, a planetarium, crowd sourced research  opportunities, classes, workshops, field trips and entertainment. In the neighborhood is also the Denver Botanic Gardens and the Denver Zoo. It's an easy train ride and hike through Capitol Hill (where the Capitol is) with great examples of architecture, from home to the museum.

I went in search of a more convenient path to the large Walmart in my area. The way I had been taking was a full day's hike. My plan was to walk through River Point shopping area to Oxford Station, catch the train to Englewood Station and walk the short distance from there to the Walmart. It was an improvement and the bonus was that my trail lead through the Denver Museum of Outdoor Arts.

This is a strange concept. There is no one building (though there is a central headquarters and indoor museum) and the museum is scattered all over Denver There is a website (http://moaonline.org/) so you can plan a visit. They even have a walking tour brochure that you can download. I went through the Englewood exhibition in December, so the central piece was a Christmas Tree.

I'll be utilizing the museums of Denver in future blogs and I'll be remembering museums of my past.