CITY OF DAVID, Jerusalem – From the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Pool of Siloam, modern Israel is known for its ancient wonders. For 61 years, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has been the center of its archaeological efforts and preservation. 

Then came October 7th, 2023, when a group of Israeli archaeologists had to take on a unique role.

A new exhibit in Jerusalem serves as an immersive experience into the October 7th terrorist attack.

Leora Berry from the IAA told CBN News, "This is not an exhibition about the war, but it's giving a certain perspective of how the Israel Antiquities Authority found itself involved in something that's taking their expertise of archaeological work into modern life, modern war."

That included using advanced methods to document devastation, locate victims, and create an exact model of Israel's bloodiest day.

"So there are three main themes that the exhibition deals with," Berry explained. "The first takes us into a whole that discusses the locating of missing people. We follow the story of two families, and we follow several archaeologists as they explain what they went through.

Up until October 7th, Israeli archaeologists dedicated to preserving ancient heritage had not been used as modern-day crime scene investigators.

Israeli Archaeologist Assaf Pretz admitted, "I was a little bit hesitant at first because I wanted to make sure that I'll be able to handle what I'm about to see, what I'm about to do there.

Another part of the exhibit features an interactive display of the scenes experienced by Assaf and his colleagues.

"The smells, the smell of fire and smoke, the smell of death, rotting flesh, the devastation. It's amazing. And you feel like someone punched you, and you need to make a switch, and you need to start doing your job," Pretz noted.

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This job also meant working directly with family members like Michal Gabay, the mother of Shani Gabay, a security worker who became a casualty when Hamas attacked the Nova Music Festival.

Gabay recalled, "I was with her on the phone. I heard the bombing. I heard the screaming, I heard everything. I was with her on the phone when they shot her."

Michal Gabay says she didn't know if her daughter was alive, dead, or taken captive. After excavating and examining the scene, Israeli archaeologists delieverd the devastating news, and a keepsake.

"They found the necklace," Gabay told us. "Her necklace, in the part of, in the area of the ambulance where the ambulance was bombed from an RPG. And there on the necklace was the DNA of Shani."

How does one deal with such tragedy? This is where "Rising from the Ashes" gets its name: a section of the display dedicated to education and community resilience.

Berry observed, "It’s part of our history, and unfortunately, this has become a very painful link in a link to this country, in the link of the Jewish people to this country, and then the link of the history of thousands of years of continuity in the land of Israel. And by doing so, we can show the world what happened, and we can hopefully prevent this from ever happening again."

The Israel Antiquities Authority hopes the exhibit does more than bring the horrors of what happened on October 7th to life. They hope it forever preserves what happened on that fateful day and reminds the world why Israel continues to fight.

"It takes me back to the 7th (of) October, and I hope it will take everyone to understand what's happened on the 7th (of) October, like a knife in the heart to see and to understand and to never forget," Gabay said with determination. "This is what I wanted. No one will forget. Ever."