IDAHO FALLS, IDAHO – May 31, 2007 – The Museum of Idaho re-opens tomorrowwith Ink & Blood: Dead Sea Scrolls to the King James Bible.  The exhibit was

closed from May 29 through today so that new cave artifacts could be added

from 1st century Qumran caves. 

 

Ink & Blood has been the second most popular exhibition (next to T.rex Sue)

to date for the Museum of Idaho, with almost 3,000 visitors per week since

it opened in February.  The exhibition contains over 100 actual artifacts

and some of the most exciting archaeological discoveries ever made,

chronicling the preservation and subsequent translations of the most read

book of all time – The Bible.

           

The exhibition reopens on Friday, June 1st at 9am.  Tickets to the

exhibition are $6 for Adults, $4 for kids 4-17 years old, or $19 for the

whole family.   Regular museum hours will be Monday & Tuesday from 9am to

8pm, and Wednesday through Saturday from 9am to 5pm, closed on Sunday.  For

further information about the exhibit or the Museum of Idaho, please call

(208) 522-1400, x3003.

 

About New Items:

1st century cave artifacts from Qumran, Israel

The Qumran caves preserved artifacts from many periods, and especially from

c.200 B.C. to 68 A.D.  The Dead Sea Scrolls date from about 250 B.C. to 68

A.D.

 

The artifacts that will be on exhibit have never been on display before and

come from the same period and general location as the Dead Sea Scrolls; that

is, the objects (with the exception of the 3 Ceramic Containers, Iron Age

II) date from the late Hellenistic (= Hasmonean) to the Early Roman period,

or from c. 150 B.C. to about 70 A.D. All are typical of Jerusalem and its

environs. The light green hue of most of the glass is due to the metal

oxides in the material from this area. This cave or tomb dates from about

100 B.C. (the date of the major manuscript of The Rule of the Community) to

70 A.D. (two years after the Romans burned Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls

were hidden).

 

Ø      8 Glass Containers, Roman, 2nd-1st century B.C., Qumran, Israel

Ø      4 Glass “Tear Drop” Bottles, Roman, 2nd-1st century B.C., Qumran,

Israel

Ø      Unguentarium Glass Container, Roman, 2nd-1st century B.C., Qumran,

Israel

Ø      2 Hand Blown Glass Containers, Roman, 2nd-1st century B.C., Qumran,

Israel

Ø      3 Ceramic Containers, Iron Age II, 1000-586 B.C., Qumran, Israel*

Ø      10 Ceramic Oil Lamp, Hasmonean Kingdom, 150-63 B.C., Qumran, Israel

Ø      Ceramic Container, Late Hellenistic, 1st century B.C., Qumran,

Israel 

Ø      Ceramic Oil Lamp, Herodian Period, c.30 B.C., Qumran, Israel

 

*3 Ceramic Containers form Iron Age II:  A fifth-century B.C. vessel was

found in a Herodian (c.30 B.C.) level in a house in the Upper City of

Jerusalem.  In Discovering Jerusalem, N. Avigad opined that this vessel was

“apparently kept in the house as a precious ‘antique.’” (p. 182). Before 70

CE, Jews admired “antiques.”