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Dead Sea Scrolls Come to Alabama via MobileBy Becky J. BeallLooking for a once-in-a-lifetime family experience? Well here it is. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the Public Museum of Grand Rapids (PMGR) have approved Mobile and the Gulf Coast Exploreum as a venue for the traveling exhibition The Dead Sea Scrolls. The exhibition dates are January 20, 2005 to April 24, 2005.
The Mobile venue will feature fragments of 12 different scrolls, including segments from the biblical books of Genesis-Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. The Psalms scroll will be the largest fragment displayed measuring over 33 inches long. The Deuteronomy fragment includes text from the Ten Commandments. Five of the scrolls have never been shown outside of Israel.
“Demand is expected to be high,” says Mike Sullivan, Exploreum Executive Director. “Everyone will want to see these rare manuscripts, including the oldest surviving text of the Ten Commandments, and Mobile is their only chance to do so in this region,” he continues. The Exploreum’s J.L.Bedsole IMAX Dome Theater will feature two films to add to the visitor’s exploration of ancient civilizations, history and archeology. Mysteries of Egypt and Mystery of the Maya will show concurrently with The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition. Ticket information: General Admission Prices Photos courtesy of: Gulf Coast Exploreum and Israel Antiquities Authority |
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The world-famous Dead Sea Scrolls,
written over 2,000 years ago, include the oldest surviving texts of the
books of the Hebrew Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament, and a
wide variety of ancient Jewish literature, including many books never before
known. Their discovery is considered one of the greatest archaeological
finds of the 20th Century.
The Dead Sea Scrolls
exhibition scheduled for Mobile is the only exhibit of scrolls authorized by
the IAA now touring the country.