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(This cross-fade montage shows a detail of the palimpsest under ordinary lighting; under multispectral analysis; and with a reconstruction of the hidden text.Credit: Museum of the Bible (CC BY-SA 4.0). Photo by Early Manuscripts Electronic Library/Lazarus Project, University of Rochester; multispectral processing by Keith T. Knox; tracings by Emanuel Zingg.) Scholars have been searching for what is believed to be the first map of the nighttime sky for centuries, and now they have finally found the medieval parchment hidden beneath Christian texts from the library at St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai. James Evans, a historian of astronomy at the...

Source: Museum of the BibleThe Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., will celebrate its fifth birthday on November 17. During the 2017 opening weekend, my husband and I toured the massive 430,000 square-foot museum. We were impressed by the gargantuan brick exterior, 40-foot tall bronze doors with Biblical inscriptions, and modern interior design. Moreover, there were interactive galleries, thoughtful and inspiring displays, and hundreds of artifacts that embodied the museum’s slogan: “Inviting all people to engage with the transformative power of the Bible.” But we noted one glaring omission: The Shroud of Turin was not referenced or pictured anywhere...

The Department of Justice announced that it seized a tablet from the Epic of Gilgamesh. According to the DOJ, the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet was smuggled into the US and then auctioned off.The ancient tablet had been bought by Oklahoma-based arts and craft superstore Hobby Lobby. The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that it had recovered the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, a rare portion of the epic of Gilgamesh, from Oklahoma-based arts and crafts superstore Hobby Lobby.The epic of Gilgamesh is considered one of the most ancient works of literature and originally comes from Iraq. According to the Department of Justice,...

This rare cuneiform tablet is inscribed with a portion of the Epic of Gilgamesh A federal court has ordered that a small ancient fragment depicting a portion of the Epic of Gilgamesh be forfeited by the Museum of the Bible two years after federal agents confiscated the artifact. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ordered the forfeiture of the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, which was purchased by Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. in 2014 to be displayed at the Museum of the Bible. Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division explained...

The Museum of the Bible holds 16 fragments of reputed Dead Sea Scrolls in their collection. On Friday, March 13, 2020, a study revealed that all 16 of these are modern forgeries. Already in 2018, a different study had tested five of the 16 fragments and concluded that they were fakes. The new study -- which was conducted by Art Fraud Insights, led by the art fraud investigator Colette Loll, and funded by the Museum of the Bible -- analyzed all 16 fragments. Through a series of physical and chemical tests, Loll and her team determined that the fragments had...

When thinking about whom to invite first, the obvious answer was Harry Hargrave, CEO of the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. (FOX News Channel watchers have likely seen the Museum’s TV ad.)Fortunately, Mr. Hargrave agreed to participate. The format I suggested (and “road tested” below) was to select four passages — two from the Old Testament and two from the New — with a brief explanation about why that scripture is personally meaningful. Reader feedback is appreciated about this “series within a series” concept. Furthermore, I encourage suggesting names of VIPs to whom I should extend an invitation to...

The Museum of the Bible said Monday that five of its 16 famous Dead Sea Scrolls fragments are fake. A team of German experts analyzed the privately funded Washington, D.C., museum's fragments and found they had "characteristics inconsistent with ancient origin." The fragments will no longer be displayed at the museum. "Though we had hoped the testing would render different results, this is an opportunity to educate the public on the importance of verifying the authenticity of rare biblical artifacts, the elaborate testing process undertaken and our commitment to transparency," said Jeffrey Kloha, chief curatorial officer for the museum, said...

Critics accuse it of threatening the separation of church and state; in truth, Washington’s new museum makes an invaluable contribution to American (and Jewish) cultural literacy.

Even skeptics are wowed by the high-tech museum. Pulitzer Prize winner Philip Kennicott called Museum of the Bible ‘stocked with historic treasures.’ By Josh ShepherdNovember 20, 2017 The professor of Jewish studies passes under an ornate archway, leading to another part of the sprawling History of the Bible floor. Keeping up with him isn’t easy, as we dodge workers who continue to install museum panels before opening day.“There’s nothing false anywhere,” Professor Lawrence Schiffman says over his shoulder, gesturing towards dozens of Torah scrolls carefully lit for preservation. “I’ve been walking around even today, reading more labels. We keep...

Fearing that America was one step closer to becoming a theocracy with the opening of the privately-funded Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C., on Thursday and Friday, CBS This Morning and NBC’s Today hyped the supposed “controversy” swirling around the institution, even claiming that a “cloud of suspicion” hung over the building as it opened its doors. “Coming up on CBS This Morning, I’ll tell you why this museum is generating some controversy. It’s just a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol,” warned correspondent Chip Reid on Thursday. Introducing the segment minutes later, co-host Charlie Rose emphasized that the...

One year from today, Washington, D.C. will see the latest addition to its plethora of museums. The Museum of the Bible will open in November 2017 and is sure to draw millions of people from all over the world. The Museum of the Bible will not only be Washington, D.C.’s newest museum but it will also be one of the best. It will catalogue the thousands year old history of the Bible in a way that will be appealing to both the academic and the lay person, to the spiritually inclined and the non-believer, and to adults and children....

The National Mall may be the nation's front lawn, but even at holiday time the museums that line it are only lightly decorated with Christmas trees and lights and not with any religious displays. But a new privately-owned museum is going up just a few blocks away - the Museum of the Bible - that only wants to celebrate Scripture.

The billionaire owners of craft giant Hobby Lobby are under federal investigation for allegedly looting hundreds of ancient artifacts from the Middle East for use in their personal “Museum of the Bible,” according to a report. The Green family has been under investigation since 2011, the Daily Beast reports, when Memphis customs seized nearly 300 clay tablets en route to the Hobby Lobby headquarters in Oklahoma City. …

One of America’s most famously Christian businesses is amassing a vast collection of Biblical antiquities. The problem is some of them may have been looted from the Middle East. In 2011, a shipment of somewhere between 200 to 300 small clay tablets on their way to Oklahoma City from Israel was seized by U.S. Customs agents in Memphis. The tablets were inscribed in cuneiform—the script of ancient Assyria and Babylonia, present-day Iraq—and were thousands of years old. Their destination was the compound of the Hobby Lobby corporation, which became famous last year for winning a landmark Supreme Court case on...

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. NOW THEY WANT TO SHARE THAT WITH ALL AMERICANS, BUILDING A BIBLE MUSEUM JUST IN THE HEART OF OUR NATION. The museum in Washington,...

Some intriguing details from NPR: In Washington, D.C., construction is underway on the Museum of the Bible, an eight-story, $400 million enterprise funded by Hobby Lobby president Steve Green.Green is a Pentecostal known for donating to conservative evangelical universities and developing a public school curriculum based on the Bible. After the craft store’s controversial victory in this summer’s Supreme Court ruling over contraception, some people worry the new museum will come across as evangelical propaganda. But organizers behind Green’s latest venture say it won’t be a memorial to evangelism.The Museum of the Bible will house the more than 40,000 artifacts...