The museum was founded by Elie Borowski in 1992 to house his personal collection. On a visit to Jerusalem in 1981, he met at a hotel, Batya Weiss, who encouraged him to bring his collection to Israel and establish a museum in keeping with his vision. She put him in contact with Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek. Borowski heeded her advice, and built the Bible Lands Museum. The two eventually married.[3]
Exhibits
The main gallery displays hundreds of artifacts: ancient documents, idols, coins, statues, weapons, pottery, and seals from across the ancient Near East. Many topics are elaborated upon in brief articles on the walls (e.g. the origins of the alphabet, embalming, and Abraham's journey). The museum also exhibits scale models of ancient sites in Jerusalem, a ZigguratatUr and the pyramids at Giza. While the museum's emphasis is the history of ancient Near Eastern civilizations, the curators draw attention to relevant biblical verses. For example, above a gallery of ancient Anatolian jugs is the verse "Behold, Rebecca came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the fountain and drew water" (Genesis 24:45).
Main gallery
The main gallery consists of 20 numbered sections in chronological order:[citation needed]
From Hunter to Urban Dweller
The Coming of Civilizations
Symbolic Communication
Literate Voices, the Story of Writing
The Pre-Patriarchal World
The Sumerian Temple
Old Kingdom of Egypt
Genesis 14, the Age of Warfare
The Age of the Patriarchs
When Israel Sojourned in Egypt
The Sea Peoples
The Arrival of the Iranian Horsemen
Stones of Aram
Israel Among the Nations
Assyria, the Rod of My Anger
The Splendor of Persia
Hellenistic Dominions
Rome and Judaea
Roman and Coptic Egypt
Sassanian Mesopotamia – Home of the Babylonian Talmud
