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".

During the 15th-16th centuries maritime exploration and colonization reached a peak. It was a decisive phase between the Middle Ages and the beginning of Modern Times.

This exhibition presents emblematic figures of gods, goddesses, heroes, and mythical marine creatures from ancient times to the modern era. Maritime trade and seafaring have played a crucial role in shaping cultural exchanges, through which sea-related beliefs and myths evolved and transformed. The vastness of the sea has been an endless source of human imagination - from the mighty gods of the ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans, through the protective saints of Christianity, to the superheroes of the modern age.

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.

The model ships in this display reflect a dramatic and stormy chapter in Jewish marine history during the years before the establishment of the State, and the first few years after its establishment. They demonstrate the progression from sailing ships to modern, motorized ships, and narrate the story of the development of Hebrew seafaring from private and civilian initiatives up to the national projects of Ha’apala, Aliya, and the establishment of an Israeli merchant fleet.

The display invites visitors to a space full of love for the sea and connects them directly with the museum's new story. It features a display of bottled ships and models of ships from around the world created by sailors as part of the unique leisure culture that has evolved aboard ships sailing in the distance.

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.