The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

This guide to the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem follows a 1954 classified ad in the Wall Street Journal offering four ancient biblical manuscripts, no photos, no fanfare. It traces how archaeologist Yigael Yadin, freshly stepped down as Israeli army chief of staff, quietly bought them for two hundred fifty thousand dollars through an intermediary to keep the price down. Look at the building's white dome, shaped like the lid of the jar that first held the scrolls, and the black basalt wall facing it.