Museum of the Bible General Catalog

INVITING ALL PEOPLE TO ENGAGE WITH THE BIBLE

VISION MUSEUM OF THE BIBLE INVITES ALL PEOPLE TO ENGAGE WITH THE BIBLE THROUGH OUR FOUR PILLARS: RESEARCH (pg. 8), TRAVELING EXHIBITS (pg. 14), EDUCATION (pg. 26), AND A MUSEUM CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN WASHINGTON, D C (pg. 20).

COVER Render of Museum

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BACK COVER Image of Madonna and Child from Ethiopic Manuscript

OVERVIEW “The Bible is the best-selling, most-translated book of all time and is arguably history’s most significant piece of literature. It has had an unquestionable influence on science, education, democracy, arts and society. This book has also profoundly impacted lives across the ages, including my own.”

— Steve Green Chairman of the Board of Museum of the Bible and President of national retailer Hobby Lobby

When Steve Green purchased his first biblical artifact in November of 2009, he never expected to assemble what is now one of the world’s largest private collections of rare biblical artifacts and manuscripts.

ABOVE Rosebery Rolle Manuscript This was the first artifact purchased by the Green family.

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THE MUSEUM COLLECTION Six years and more than 40,000 items later, the collection includes some of the rarest and most significant biblical texts and artifacts ever found.

Highlights of the collection include Dead Sea Scroll fragments, biblical papyri and manuscripts, Torah scrolls, and rare printed Bibles.

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OPPOSITE PAGE Codex Climaci Rescriptus

RESEARCH

RESEARCH

RESEARCH Through the Museum of the Bible Scholars Initiative, we pioneer groundbreaking research and raise up the next generation of biblical scholars.

Formed in the summer of 2010, the Scholars Initiative enables the world’s leading textual scholars to research and produce scholarship on artifacts and manuscripts in our collection while mentoring students. The program includes more than 60 institutions and over 100 scholars in six countries.

The Initiative has already yielded new discoveries of international acclaim and inspired students to pursue advanced degrees in biblical studies.

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ABOVE 1. World’s oldest known Jewish prayer book (~1200 years old) 2. A fragment of Genesis from the Dead Sea Scrolls (~2100 years old) CODEX CLIMACI RESCRIPTUS (CCR): 3. The CCR contains a popular Christian text from the early Middle Ages, “The Ladder of Divine Ascent,” in Syriac translation. Faintly visible beneath the black ink here is a copy of the Gospels, erased over 1,000 years ago when the parchment was reused.

4. In 2010, multi-spectral imaging brought this erased text back to light with colorful clarity so scholars could study the older layer in better detail. This page contains Matthew’s account of the Last Supper, translated into a variety of Western Aramaic, very close to the dialect that Jesus and his early followers spoke.

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IF YOU PLACE A REAL OBJECT 2,000 YEARS OLD IN FRONT OF AN 18-YEAR-OLD AND START TO DISCUSS ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR OUR UNDERSTANDING OF A BIT OF THE BIBLE, THAT CAN BE A MOMENT THAT LIGHTS UP A LIFE!

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– Dr. Gordon Campbell Professor of Renaissance Studies, University of Leicester, UK

OPPOSITE PAGE La Biblia Exhibit, Cuba

TRAVELING EXHIBITS

TRAVELING EXHIBITS

Passages

TRAVELING EXHIBITS Reaching more than half a million people to date, our exhibits have traveled across the country and around the world. We have brought the story of the Bible to Oklahoma City, Atlanta, Charlotte, Colorado Springs, Springfield (MO), the Greater Los Angeles area, The Vatican, Jerusalem, Israel, Havana, Cuba, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and numerous colleges and universities.

Museum of the Bible’s first traveling exhibit, Passages, launched on May 16, 2011. Featuring approximately 400 top-tier items from the Museum Collection, Passages invites guests to engage with the Bible through contextual settings such as an ancient Jewish synagogue, the Jerusalem chamber at Westminster Abbey, and Israel’s Qumran caves.

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VERBUM D OMINI Museum of the Bible’s first international traveling exhibit, Verbum Domini, launched in Vatican City in 2012. Due to the exhibit’s popularity, the exhibit returned to St. Peter’s Square in 2014 with Verbum Domini II.

THE B O OK OF B O OKS Sharing the story of the Jewish roots of Christianity, The Book of Books exhibit was on display at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem from October 2013 through October 2014.

LA BIBLIA La Biblia, The Way of God in the Way of Man, an exhibit at the cathedral of Havana, Cuba, was on display for a three-week period in 2014.

We are excited to have numerous opportunities and continue to plan new exhibits worldwide!

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THIS IS AN HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENT FOR B OTH THE COLLECTION AND THE CUBAN PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD LIT TLE OPPORTUNIT Y TO ENCOUNTER SUCH ARTIFACTS ON THEIR OWN SOIL.

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– Norman C. Conrad, Curator of Americana and English Bibles

OPPOSITE PAGE The building that will house the museum was originally Washington, D.C.’s first refrigerated storage warehouse.

MUSEUM

MUSEUM

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MUSEUM MUSEUM OF THE BIBLE, WASHINGTON, D.C. Our museum, opening in the fall of 2017, will be housed in a 430,000-square-foot building in the heart of Washington, D.C., just steps from the National Mall and the U.S. Capitol. Displaying artifacts from the collection, the museum will share the Bible’s impact, history and narrative through a series of high-tech exhibits, immersive settings, and interactive experiences – designed for guests of all ages, walks of life, and faith backgrounds to engage with the Bible.

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IT TAKES A WORLD-CLASS TEAM TO BUILD A WORLD-CLASS MUSEUM. WE’ VE ASSEMBLED JUST THAT: THE BEST IN ARCHITECTURAL, INTERIOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN TO PROVIDE MUSEUM OF THE BIBLE GUESTS WITH AN EXPERIENCE THAT IS UNIQUE, INNOVATIVE, CUSTOMIZ ABLE TO EACH VISITOR’S LEVEL OF INTEREST, AND MOST OF ALL MEMORABLE.

– Cary Summers President, Museum of the Bible

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THE BIBLE’S IMPACT ON THE WORLD The Impact Floor exhibits will express the incredible depth of the Bible’s immense influence – not only on the world’s cultures and many aspects of civilization, but also on the lives of individuals. Examples of topics to be covered are the Bible’s influence on the arts, science, government, education, family, pop culture and American history.

This floor will also include a special “fly board” theater enabling guests to virtually fly overseas, through paintings, and into key monuments and buildings (like the U.S. Capitol and Lincoln Memorial) to learn about the Bible’s presence in Washington, D.C.

THE NARRATIVE OF THE BIBLE This area of the museum will encompass 50,000 square feet and be dedicated to telling the stories of the Bible. It will connect 21st century audiences to the Bible by taking guests on a journey inside its stories and inviting them to be a part of the story. The floor will include three primary areas:

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1. The Jewish Bible is an immersive walk-through of the narrative of the Hebrew scriptures, tracing themes of family and home.

2. The World of Jesus of Nazareth will enable guests to visit a first-century village with docents portraying various individuals in that society, period environments, and media.

3. The New Testament Theater will provide a four-dimensional experience of the New Testament as discovered by Luke.

THE HISTORY FLO OR This floor features many of the greatest discoveries associated with the biblical text, including some of the earliest known writings, which date to the time traditionally associated with Abraham, Dead Sea Scroll fragments, some of the earliest known New Testament writings, numerous historical manuscripts, and first-edition Bibles.

We will be using multi-touch interactive tables to invite visitors to explore the game-changing moments in the Bible’s story to bring the texts alive and allow for deeper exploration of the stories of our primary artifacts.

This one-of-a-kind museum will also feature a unique personal navigation system and house a: • State-of-the-art Conference Hall with views of the Capitol • Performing Arts Center • Restaurant featuring “The Foods of the Bible” • Children’s Gallery • Rooftop Biblical Garden • Additional galleries for our partner institutions such as the Israel Antiquities Authority

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EDUCATION

EDUCATION

EDUCATION “ … the teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally – I do not mean figuratively, I mean literally – impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these teachings were removed.”

– President Theodore Roosevelt

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Museum of the Bible brings cutting-edge innovation to education by developing a high school Bible curriculum for students around the world. This four-year curriculum starts with the ninth grade and approaches the Bible as a text that is central to human civilization.

Illuminating the Bible’s impact, narrative, and history, the curriculum uses augmented reality (AR) to enable students to experience 3D objects in a much more immersive way. A computer-generated virtual environment is formed that invites students to interact, making it easier for them to relate to what is being presented.

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IT ’S A PROJECT, NOT JUST FOR OUR GENERATION, BUT FOR GENERATIONS AND CENTURIES TO COME.

– Mike King President, Youthfront

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museumoftheBible.org

From ancient times to the digital age, across the nation and around the globe, from the university lecture hall to the high school classroom, the Bible is making an impact.

We invite you to be a part of it.