The History of the Building and Its Significance

The Shrine of the Book, situated near Givat Ram and Israel's government institutions, was inaugurated at a gala ceremony on April 20, 1965. The building, designed by American-Jewish architects A.Bartos and F. Kiesler, is considered a milestone of modern architecture. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it is an "ideological"structure, a kind of sanctuary which seeks to convey spiritual messages. The stark contrast between its white dome, which symbolizes the lids of the jars in which some of the scrolls were found, and the black wall opposite the building alludes to the tension between the spiritual world of the "Sons of Light" (as the sectarians referred to themselves) and that of the "Sons of Darkness" (the enemies of the sect) expressed in the scrolls.

The corridor leading to the main hall of the Shrine of the Book resembles a cave, recalling the mysterious surroundings in which the ancient manuscripts were discovered.