Exhibitions

The exhibition displays models of several ZIM shipping vessels, designed for various purposes. The first ship received under the agreement, Dagan, was used for cargo, as was the Ampa'al. The ships Israel and Zion were intended for mixed use of passengers and cargo, while Jerusalem served as a passenger ship. The ship Har Gilad, owned by El-Yam company, was used for general cargo and refrigerated transport. The exhibition also features historical moments in the ships' stories, documented in sources including news diaries, photographs, and promotional leaflets.

The phenomenon of piracy - piracy - has evolved since man began trading in ships, and it has flourished mainly in areas of loose rule. Piracy existed in ancient times in the Mediterranean and the Sea of China and reached its peak in the seventeenth century in the Atlantic Ocean, with the rise of European colonialism and the development of trade routes with the "New World".

The secret of glassmaking was already known in the ancient world: take sand that is rich in silica, quartz, and potassium salts, heat it gradually to 1100 Celsius, and you will get an almost liquid, mailable material. Once the liquid has cooled down and solidified, you will have lumps of raw glass that can be remelted and fashioned into vessels and jewelry.

Cartography, the science of maps and mapping, is an ancient craft that may even predate the invention of writing. Already in antiquity, maps of cities and countries had been drawn up in various civilizations around the world, such as China, Mesopotamia, and Greece.

This exhibit urges all of us to raise awareness of the rapid ecological destruction taking place in our marine environment. It invites us to join thousands of activists in Israel and worldwide in participating in both small- and large-scale actions in support of the ocean’s ecological health.

One of the most important and rare discoveries of underwater archaeology in Israel is that of the Athlit ram. It was discovered by the late Yehoshua Ramon in 1980, in the northern bay of Athlit, and was retrieved from the sea by the staff and students of the Maritime Civilizations Department at the Centre for Marine Studies at Haifa University.

One of the concerns of seafarers of all times has been how to halt their vessel in mid-ocean when necessary. The first sailors solved the problem by lowering a rock tied to a rope onto the sea-bed.

Mathematical instruments are intended for measuring angles and distances, and are applied to astronomy, topography and navigation. Some have wider uses as drawing instruments or to measure time. Very few have been left from ancient times. Some Chinese jades, some Greek terra-cottas, some bronze fragments are all that remain from those early periods.

The lands of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea were always connected with the sea and the rivers. Already in the earliest periods boats traversed the rivers and the coasts of the sea. In these lands was born and developed the art of seafaring, at least as far as the western world is concerned.