Standing Room Only for Museum of the Bible’s Dead Sea Scrolls Hill Event
(QUICK READ) — All of the chairs were taken and people were standing on March 4 when the Museum of the Bible (MTOB) hosted senior congressional staffers for lunch and a lecture in the U.S. Capitol by one of the world’s top experts on the Dead Sea Scrolls.
They were gathered to hear Dr. Robert Duke, MOTB’s Chief Curatorial Officer, provide them with an entertaining and historically and spiritually enriching discussion of the approximately 900 biblical writings on scrolls found on the northern end of the Dead Sea in a series of caves near Qumran, Israel, in 1947.
Dr. Robert Duke, Curatorial Director of the Museum of the Bible.
The MOTB is displaying a large selection of the scrolls through September 7. The current display marks the fourth time parts of the scrolls have been displayed in the nation’s capitol.
The current display is presented by the museum in conjunction with the Israel Antiquities Authority and, in addition to the scrolls, includes multiple artifacts from the third century B.C.
Among the artifacts is the Magdala Stone that features reliefs of the Jerusalem Temple and fragments from a first century fishing vessel known as the “Jesus Boat.”
After the event, Duke told HillFaith.org that “the current exhibit has the most items available and tells the wider story of life 2,000 years ago in the Holy Land. It is truly remarkable that the Museum of the Bible has oldest copies of the biblical text and the first church ever discovered archaeological, the Megiddo Mosaic. I don’t think these two will ever be paired again in the future.
“Being in the Capitol building presenting on the Dead Sea Scrolls is a memory I will always cherish. The United States, 250 years ago, was shaped by the very words that these Dead Sea Scrolls preserve.”
Duke discussing the Dead Sea Scrolls that are on exhibit at the Museum of the Bible through September 7.
The Dead Sea Scrolls event is the first of what MOTB officials say will be a unique series of events in coming months designed to raise the museum’s profile and impact on Capitol Hill and throughout the Washington, D.C. region.
“We were absolutely excited to see such a great response from the community on Capitol Hill from around Washington to our Dead Sea Scrolls lecture. We are very excited to schedule more events that highlight our exhibits and bring our wonderful museum to the Hill,” Matias Pertulla, MOTB’s Director of Strategic Engagement, told HillFaith.org.
“We invite all people to engage with the transformative power of the Bible and look forward to creating more opportunities for people to do so. We are here to serve our community,” he said.