This Sunday one of the most popular exhibits ever shown at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, DC closes. "In the Beginning: Bibles Before the Year 1000" has drawn record crowds since it opened in October. In fact, I haven't been because when I stopped by mid-afternoon on a weekday there was an hour wait. An hour wait at the Sackler!
Pasted below is an excerpt of the museum's description of the exhibit. As for the lines, a woman at the information desk said the time to get there is right when it opens (at 10), because, she said, people don't like to get an early start in the morning. She could read me like a book.
The exhibition will present over 70 of the earliest biblical artifacts in existence, including pages and fragments written in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopian and Coptic—many on display for the first time in the United States. The Sackler Gallery will be the only venue for the exhibition.
Highlights of the exhibition include:
- Leaves from three of the six oldest surviving Hebrew codices.
- The oldest known manuscripts of the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy.
- One of the earliest known manuscripts of the Gospels written in Latin.
- The oldest dated parchment biblical codex in the world.
- A page from the earliest Bible with full-page illustration.
The Sackler gallery, which (along with the Freer Gallery of Art next door) specializes in Asian art, is part of the Smithsonian Institution and is located on the National Mall, at 1050 Independence Ave., behind the castle. Tomorrow promises to be a beautiful day for a trip to the Mall (with a predicted high of 69 degrees -- on January 6!?)
Early Biblical Texts? They had cell-phones in Biblical times?
Tho shlt nt stl
Posted by: NorthernOutlaw | March 10, 2007 at 12:00 AM