BARlines

Prize Biblical Relics Coming to Washington for Annual Meeting and Thanksgiving Weekend

Incredulity is the most common reaction when we tell people that two of the most extraordinary Biblical artifacts ever recovered will be displayed in Washington, D.C., for ten days this November.

The exhibit, which will consist of only two items, is being brought to Washington by the Biblical Archaeology Society, publisher of Biblical Archaeology Review and Bible Review. The two artifacts are being lent for the exhibit by the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Israel Antiquities Authority and will be displayed in the Smithsonian Institution on the Mall.

The two objects are an inscribed ivory pomegranate thought to be the only surviving relic from Solomon’s Temple and the ossuary, or bone box, recently discovered in Jerusalem and inscribed with the name Caiaphas, the high priest who, according to the Gospels, presided at the trial of Jesus. Both items are unusually beautiful as well as historically significant.