Emory's Carlos Museum Opens Major Exhibition Tracing the Shared Roots of Judaism and Christianity
For more information, contact Allison G. Dixon, agdixon@emory.edu		  
     
 

Emory University's Michael C. Carlos Museum will open a major traveling exhibition tracing the shared roots of Judaism and Christianity, bringing to the United States for the first time the most significant biblical artifacts ever found, including the Temple Scroll, among the most important of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the "Judah, son of Jesus" ossuary highlighted in the new documentary "The Lost Tomb of Jesus."

"Cradle of Christianity: Jewish and Christian Treasures from the Holy Land" explores aspects of early Jewish life and the concurrent birth of Christianity by presenting artifacts drawn from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, which houses the foremost collection of biblical archeology in the world. The exhibition will be on view at the Carlos Museum from June 16 through Oct. 14, 2007. Groups (ten or more) can make reservations now; individual tickets go on sale April 1.

  
The Temple Scroll, among the most important of the Dead Sea Scrolls, will be one of the highlights at the "Cradle of Christianity: Jewish and Christian Treasures from the Holy Land" exhibition at the Carlos Museum.
 
 

Using dramatic installations to incorporate original objects excavated in Israel over the last century, "Cradle of Christianity" offers an unprecedented opportunity to examine two periods of major consequence for modern religious history. The first era explores the final days of the Second Temple (the Herodian Period and the 1st century AD), the time when Jesus of Nazareth lived. The second period examines the concurrent development, side by side, of formative Judaism and Christianity in the Holy Land (4th – 7th centuries AD).

"The need to better understand our great religions has never been more important," says James W. Wagner, president of Emory. "We are proud to bring this pathbreaking exhibition to Atlanta, providing people throughout our region with the opportunity to explore Jewish and Christian traditions and their common roots through ancient works of art. Both the exhibition and the educational opportunities it provides are part of Emory’s commitment to build bridges of understanding that will make a difference in the world."

"The very foundation of the Carlos Museum, reaching back to the 1920s, grew from the work of Emory theology faculty and their interests in building resources for teaching biblical history," says Bonnie Speed, director of the Carlos Museum. "Cradle of Christianity renews the museum's early emphasis on the exploration of religious history through compelling works of art. We are thrilled to be able to share these magnificent artifacts with our audiences."

“The archaeological holdings of the Israel Museum represent the world’s most significant treasures from the formative period of Judaism and Christianity in the Holy Land. We are pleased to have this opportunity to showcase our biblical treasures at Emory University to promote intercultural understanding through the shared history of the Christian and Jewish faiths,” said James S. Snyder, Anne and Jerome Fisher director of the Israel Museum.

In the Time of Jesus –The Second Temple Period

The first section of the exhibition is devoted to the Holy Land at the time of Jesus, presenting important events of his life in the context of first century Jewish life. Unique archaeological finds excavated in Israel portray the world in which Jesus lived.

Artifacts will include:

• A burial ossuary inscribed "Judah, son of Jesus (Yeshua)" suggesting how commonplace the names of Jesus, his family and his disciples were among the Jewish community of the land of Israel.

• The Temple Scroll (Dead Sea Scroll): its scale and subject—calling for a new legal interpretation of the Torah—make the Temple Scroll one of the most historically important of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

• The burial ossuary of Caiaphas the High Priest, who, according to the New Testament, delivered Jesus to the Romans and a commemorative inscription bearing the name of Pontius Pilate, representing the only surviving physical testimony of these two prominent figures from the story of the trial of Jesus

The Rise of Christianity

As there is a scarcity of artifacts that can be firmly connected to Jesus and his activities associated with Christianity in the first centuries, knowledge of the first chapter in the history of Christianity is based primarily on sacred writings. However, there is a wealth of objects dating from the period in which Christianity developed—the 4th through the 7th centuries AD.

Artifacts will include:

• The remains of excavated churches, monasteries and other religious sites, including furnishings, dedicatory inscriptions, reliquaries and liturgical objects.

• A full-scale reconstruction of the Chancel of a Byzantine Era church comprised of an original altar, chancel screens, Baptisterium, reliquary, and pulpit, and adorned by mosaics.

Early Synagogues and Jewish symbols

Dozens of synagogues, most of them dating from the 4th to the 7th centuries BC, have been excavated in Galilee, in the Golan and in Judea.

Artifacts will include:

• The remains of excavated synagogues, including capitals, mosaics and marble furnishings, all adorned with Jewish symbols.

• Daily objects decorated with Jewish symbols.

• The two largest three-dimensional Menorahs ever found in excavation.

Cradle of Christianity is organized by the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Support for the exhibition in Atlanta was provided by Emory, the CF Foundation, Inc., a friend of the Michael C. Carlos Museum, an anonymous donor and Ferdinand and Monique Seefried.

It is curated by David Mevorah, curator of Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Archaeology, and Yael Israeli, senior curator (emeritus) for archaeology and ancient glass, with a contribution by Adolfo Roitman, head of the Shrine of the Book and curator of the Dead Sea Scrolls. All artifacts are on loan from the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and the Israel Antiquities Authority.

 
 
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