Temporary Public Exhibitions
Small portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls collections have been put on temporary display in exhibitions at museums and public venues around the world. The majority of these exhibitions took place in 1965 in the United States and the United Kingdom and from 1993 to 2011 in locations around the world. Many of the exhibitions were co-sponsored by either the Jordanian government (pre-1967) or the Israeli government (post-1967). Exhibitions were discontinued after 1965 due to the Six-days War conflicts and have slowed down in post-2011 as the Israeli Antiquities Authority works to digitize the scrolls and place them in permanent cold storage.
A list of major temporary public exhibitions can be found here:
| Exhibition Place | Exhibition City | Exhibition Name | Exhibition Dates | Description | Picture |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The National Museum of Natural History | Washington, D.C., United States | "The Torch" | 27 February 1965 – 21 March 1965 | The exhibition took place in the Foyer Gallery of the Natural History Building. The exhibit, sponsored by the Government of Jordan, drew 209,643 visitors. | |
| The University of Pennsylvania Museum | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States | 3 April 1965 – 25 April 1965 | Part of a Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service exhibit. | ||
| The British Museum | London, England, United Kingdom | "The Dead Sea Scrolls of Jordan" | December 1965 | The exhibition aroused great public interest and attracted large attendances. The exhibition involved cooperation between the Palestinian Archeological Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Government of the Heshemite Kingdom of Jordan | |
| The Library of Congress | Washington, D.C., United States | "Scrolls from the Dead Sea: The Ancient Library of Qumran and Modern Scholarship" | 29 April 1993 - June 1993 | The exhibition featured 12 scrolls and 88 artifacts displayed in the library's Madison Gallery. | |
| The New York Public Library | New York, New York, United States | "The Dead Sea Scrolls: Ancient Civilization-Modern Scholarship" | October 1993 - January 1994 | This exhibition featured 12 fragments of the Israel Antiquities Authority Collection and 200 pieces in all. | |
| The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco | San Francisco, California, United States | "Highlights from the Israel Antiquities Authority: The Dead Sea Scrolls and 5,000 Years of Treasures" | 26 February 1994 – 29 May 1994 | Among others, the exhibition included the Book of Psalms and included 50 total artifacts on display. | |
| Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana | Vatican City | 4 July 1994 – 16 October 1994 | |||
| Israel Museum Jerusalem | Jerusalem, Israel | February 1995 - May 1995 | |||
| Kelvingrove | Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom | 1 May 1998 – 30 August 1998 | |||
| Romisch-Germanisches Museum | Koln, Germany | 12 November 1998 – 18 April 1999 | |||
| Austellungssaal des Regeirungsgebaudes | St. Gallen, Switzerland | 7 May 1999 – 8 August 1999 | |||
| Field Museum of Chicago | Chicago, Illinois, United States | 4 February 2000 – 18 June 2000 | This exhibit included the Psalms Scroll. | ||
| The Art Gallery of New South Wales | Sydney, Australia | "Dead Sea Scrolls" | 14 July 2000 – 15 October 2000 | The exhibition featured parts of the War Scroll and other fragments along with related artifacts. | |
| The Public Museum of Grand Rapids | Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States | 15 February 2003 – 31 May 2003 | |||
| Museu Historic Nacional | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 1 August 2004 – 10 October 2004 | |||
| Houston Museum of Natural Science | Houston, Texas, United States | 1 October 2004 – 2 January 2005 | |||
| Museu Brasileiro da Escultura Marilisa Rathsman | São Paulo, Brazil | 27 October 2004 – 15 February 2005 | |||
| Discovery Place | Charlotte, North Carolina, United States | 17 February 2006 – 29 May 2006 | |||
| Pacific Science Center | Seattle, Washington, United States | 23 September 2006 – 7 January 2007 | |||
| Union Station | Kansas City, Missouri, United States | 8 February 2007 – 13 May 2007 | Not exclusively a museum exhibition. | ||
| San Diego Natural History Museum | San Diego, California, United States | "Dead Sea Scrolls" | 29 June 2007 – 6 January 2008 | The museum claimed that the exhibition "was the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of Dead Sea Scrolls ever assembled." The exhibition displayed 24 sets of fragments, including some from the Copper Scroll. | |
| Museum of Natural Sciences | Raleigh, North Carolina, United States | "The Dead Sea Scrolls" | 28 June 2008 – 28 December 2008 | The exhibition featured 12 sets of scroll fragments on loan from the IAA. | |
| Jewish Museum New York | New York, New York, United States | "The Dead Sea Scrolls: Mysteries of the Ancient World" | 21 September 2008 – 4 January 2009 | The exhibition featured six sets of scroll fragments. | |
| Royal Ontario Museum | Toronto, Canada | "Words that Changed the World" | 27 June 2009 – 3 January 2010 | On 24 September 2008 it was announced that the Royal Ontario Museum would be hosting an exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls. From 27 June 2009, to 3 January 2010, a collection of over 200 manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls were displayed at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada. The exhibition was a joint venture between the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Royal Ontario Museum. | |
| Science Museum of Minnesota | St. Paul, Minnesota, United States | "Words that Changed the World" | 12 March 2010 – 24 October 2010 | The exhibition featured three sets of five fragments from scrolls. | |
| The Franklin Institute | Philadelphia, PA | "Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Ancient Times" | 12 May 2012 – 14 October 2012 | The exhibition features a total of twenty scrolls, displayed ten at a time, including the oldest known copies of the Hebrew Bible and four never-before-seen scrolls. With more than 600 items on display, visitors will experience firsthand the traditions, beliefs and iconic objects from everyday life, more than 2000 years ago. | |
| Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary | Fort Worth, Texas, United States | "Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible" | 2 July 2012 – 13 January 2013 | A landmark endeavor, Southwestern Seminary's exhibit marks the first time a private institution has hosted a display of the Dead Sea Scrolls. With over 21 scroll pieces, the exhibition includes a never-before-seen Genesis fragment on loan from the Kando family (the largest piece held in any private collection) and one of only five existing laser-facsimiles of the Great Isaiah Scroll. The exhibit focuses on the unique relationship between the 1947 discovery and its implications for biblical textual criticism and historicity. |
Read more about this topic: Tanakh At Qumran, Museum Exhibitions and Displays
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