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Harvard Semitic Museum

Leon Levy, who died in 2004, was a prominent antiquities collector who supported archaeological research. Some scholars, such as Pierre Bikai of the American Center for Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan, refused a bequest from Levy because he was a collector. The Albright Institute in Jerusalem, however, was grateful to accept a gift from Levy’s estate in support of their work. Such conflicting attitudes among scholars reflect the deep feeling raised by the issue of antiquities collecting.