The philanthropist Vera Bryce Salomons founded this important museum in memory of her professor, Leo Aryeh Mayer, a scholar of Islamic art and rector of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who died in 1969. The Salomens were enlightened Anglo-Jewish grandees and Vera was a passionate art lover.

Six galleries in the permanent display tell the story of Islamic art from the Arab conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries through to the Safavids, Moghuls and Ottomans. Collections include the David Salomons clock and watch collection.