Bible Museum to display artifacts from Holy Land under deal

Glass vessels, Burial Tomb cave Akeldama, Jerusalem, early Roman Period

The Museum of the Bible, now under construction in Washington, will feature ancient artifacts and treasures from the Holy Land under a new deal with the Israel Antiquities Authority.
An agreement announced yesterday will bring a selection of artifacts excavated in Israel to be displayed in a top-floor gallery at the Bible museum. The new museum is set to open near the National Mall in the heart of the capital in 2017.
Officials say the specific artifacts to be displayed haven’t been settled. In 1993, the Israel Antiquities Authority exhibited the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Library of Congress in Washington.
The Museum of the Bible already holds a collection of rare biblical texts and artifacts. There are cuneiform tablets dating to the time of Abraham, Torah scrolls and rare printed Bibles, bought in 2009 by an American family.
According to the museum website, “When the Green family, founders of U.S. retail chain Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., purchased their first biblical artifact in November 2009, they never expected to assemble in only a few years what is now one of the world’s largest private collections of rare biblical texts, objects, and artifacts.
Known as the Green Collection, the compilation of around 40,000 objects includes some of the rarest and most significant biblical texts and artifacts ever assembled under one roof. Highlights of the Green Collection include cuneiform tablets dating from the time of Abraham, Dead Sea Scroll fragments, biblical papyri and manuscripts, Torah scrolls, and rare printed Bibles. MDT/Agencies