Virtual Museum Tour: 12 Stops Through Biblical History

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In light of the global pandemic, museums throughout the world closed their physical doors. Yet rather than pausing their educational mission, many opened up their collections to be explored and enjoyed digitally. Even if you are confined within your home, you can virtually tour some of the world’s top museums.

Visit artsandculture.google.com/partner to explore more than 2,000 museums and cultural institutions, including the Israel Museum, Metro-politan Museum of Art (MET), British Museum, Uffizi Gallery, and Art Institute of Chicago. To see more of these institutions’ collections, visit their individual websites.

BAR suggests the following itinerary to see some of the top biblical archaeology artifacts in museums around the world—from the comfort of your own home. Walk through biblical history with us.

1

Tel Dan Stele

NINTH CENTURY B.C.E.

Israel Museum, Jerusalem

This inscription may reference the “House of David.”

2

Mesha Stele

NINTH CENTURY B.C.E.

Louvre Museum, Paris

This inscription details the success of the Moabite king Mesha over the Israelites. The Israelite version of these events appears in the Bible (2 Kings 3).

3

“Holy of Holies” from the Arad Sanctuary

EIGHTH CENTURY B.C.E.

Israel Museum, Jerusalem

The reconstructed innermost portion of the Judahite temple at Arad, which was buried at the time of King Hezekiah, gives us an idea of how the Jerusalem Temple may have looked.

4

Lachish Reliefs

SEVENTH CENTURY B.C.E.

British Museum, London

These panels from the Assyrian king Sennacherib’s palace at Nineveh depict the Assyrian siege of the city of Lachish in Judah.

5

Sennacherib Prism

SEVENTH CENTURY B.C.E.

Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago

The Oriental Institute, British Museum, and Israel Museum all hold prisms wherein the Assyrian king Sennacherib boasts of his military victories over Judah. The Bible (2 Kings 18-19; 2 Chronicles 32) tells the Judahite side of things.

6

Ketef Hinnom Inscriptions

SIXTH CENTURY B.C.E.

Israel Museum, Jerusalem

Two silver amulets from Jerusalem contain part of the priestly blessing from Numbers 6:24-26, making them the earliest extant biblical texts.

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7

The Ishtar Gate

SIXTH CENTURY B.C.E.

Pergamon Museum, Berlin

Bearing a dedicatory inscription by King Nebuchadnezzar II, the Ishtar Gate served as a grand entrance to ancient Babylon. Jewish captives, including the prophet Daniel, may have passed through this gate.

8

The Lachish Letters

SIXTH CENTURY B.C.E.

British Museum, London

Written by the defenders of Lachish, these letters detail life in a Judahite fort in the last days of the Kingdom of Judah. The Bible (2 Kings 24-25; 2 Chronicles 36) also describes the Babylonian siege and conquest of Judah.

9

Cyrus Cylinder

SIXTH CENTURY B.C.E.

British Museum, London

This text recounts the victory of the Persian king Cyrus over Babylon and his general restoration of religious sanctuaries throughout Mesopotamia. Although the temple in Jerusalem is not specifically named, Cyrus’s policy aligns with the biblical account (2 Chronicles 36:22-23).

10

Dead Sea Scrolls

THIRD CENTURY B.C.E.– FIRST CENTURY C.E.

Israel Museum, Jerusalem

The Dead Sea Scrolls consist of biblical and sectarian texts. The biblical manuscripts contain portions of every book of the Hebrew Bible, except for the Book of Esther.

11

“Jesus Boat”

FIRST CENTURY B.C.E.– FIRST CENTURY C.E.

Yigal Allon Center, Ginosar

The remains of a first-century boat from the Sea of Galilee help us envision the kind of vessel in which Jesus and the apostles may have traveled and fished—or that could have been used during the Great Jewish Revolt against Rome.

12

Pilate Stone

FIRST CENTURY C.E.

Israel Museum, Jerusalem

This Latin inscription lists Pontius Pilate, the infamous Roman prefect of Judea (e.g., Matthew 27) and dates to 26–36 C.E.

In light of the global pandemic, museums throughout the world closed their physical doors. Yet rather than pausing their educational mission, many opened up their collections to be explored and enjoyed digitally. Even if you are confined within your home, you can virtually tour some of the world’s top museums.