Beit Ussishkin Nature Museum

Exhibitions on nature and the environment. On display at Beit Ussishkin are the flora and fauna characteristic of the Hula Valley area, from before the swamp was drained in 1951 to this day.

Designed to blend in with its environment, the museum boasts sloping roofs meant to resemble the slope of Mount Hermon, and you can see the snows of the Hermon through the big arch in the museum`s center. A chiseled stone facade adds to its beauty.

Among the mounted animals in the largest of the exhibits visitors will find the darter, or snake bird, which has effectively disappeared from the area. Also on display is the pygmy cormorant, which hunts fish by diving deep into the water.

Like some of the birds, a few of the amphibians that used to live here have also stopped migrating to our shores. However, hundreds of bird and fish species still reside in the area, and most of them are displayed in the museum.

One entire hall contains finds from the excavations at nearby Tel Dan. Indeed, Beit Ussishkin is the only place in the world where the whole development of the biblical city of Dan is on display. Here you can find artifacts from four biblical eras: the time of Abraham, the period of the Judges, the Israelite Conquest and the divided Kingdom.