The chapters of a timeless tale

In Jerusalem, work has now been completed to complete the second section of the archaeological museum of the Terra Sancta Museum: in view of the inauguration, we wanted to retrace the history of the museum and its many souls together with Sara Cibin, our project coordinator in Jordan and contact person for the museum project in Jerusalem.

The foundation of the Terra Sancta Museum by the Franciscans and the link with the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum

“The museum was founded by the Custody of the Holy Land in 1902,” explains Sara. A Franciscan museum in the city of Jerusalem has therefore existed for more than a century, and was created with the intention of preserving the finds found during archaeological expeditions: “The friars needed a place to put together all those things that happened to be found in sanctuaries, convents and the surrounding areas during expeditions and excavations; this is how what would later become the Terra Sancta Museum was born.”

In the thirties, the museum was then entrusted to the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum: “It also changed location: originally the exhibition hall was located in the area of San Salvatore, while now it moves towards the Flagellation,” explains Sara. The operation requires the expansion of the pre-existing building, and “the museum still occupies part of the spaces of the thirties and part of the oldest building”. With the intervention of the Studium Biblicum, the museum was increasingly oriented towards the use of specialist scholars, rather than towards a wide audience: “the museum was open only by appointment, frequented mainly for study reasons”.

The intervention of Pro Terra Sancta

In 2010, the one who had the idea of transforming its nature was the Cardinal – then Custos – Pierbattista Pizzaballa: Sara recounts how he in fact “firmly believed that culture is – and must be – a tool for building a dialogue of peace within the multicultural world of Jerusalem and the whole Holy Land”. Thus began the creation of a museum that would address the whole community, and the management of the operation was entrusted to Pro Terra Sancta.

“We started with a reorganization of the exhibition criterion”; Sara Cibin recounts how, until then, the finds were only divided geographically: “The previous project saw the correspondence of the exhibition hall with the excavation site. We, on the other hand, have imagined a museum divided into three thematic ‘chapters’, which help the visitor to orient himself in the vastness and diversity of the voices of Jerusalem and the places of the Holy Land.”

1. The stages of Jesus’ life

“In the first ‘chapter’ we retrace, a bit like pilgrims, the places of Jesus’ life“: from Bethlehem to Nazareth, passing through the Mount of Olives, the Holy Sepulchre, Capernaum, Tabgha; all well-known places touched by the long journeys of those who undertake a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. “This coincidence arises from the fact that the friars had an interest in making archaeological excavations in those places that would have allowed them to deepen the events narrated in the Gospels”: Sara says that the friars went in search of “Capernaum, which was lost, that no one knew where it was”, and the “fishing village where Peter was”, in search of something that would give substance to their truth. This same research was the basis of the first section of the archaeological museum of the Terra Sancta Museum.

2. The historical context

The second section explores the historical context of the period in which Jesus lived: the Roman social structures and the traces of the coexistence between Romans and Jews, the objects that tell the story of everyday life at the time: coins, bowls, plates, utensils of various kinds.

“The idea is to offer visitors a complete, broad look at what these places were like at the time when Jesus lived there: to show them what everyday life was like, what trades were done, what coins were used at the market, what people ate and with what supports…”.

3. Focus on specific topics

Accompanying these insights is a composite section, which offers “focus on topics that, for various reasons, have aroused the interest of archaeologists and professors of the Studium Biblicum over time, who have continued to increase the museum’s collection.” The topics are different: “There is an in-depth study of the Mount Nebo area, for example; there is the liturgy of the Byzantine period, and therefore the lamps that were used, the ampoules that were given to pilgrims to take them away with them, the architectural and liturgical elements…” There is a section dedicated to the different languages that have existed in the Holy Land over the centuries: Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, and also “all the ancient languages: Samaritan, Syriac, Phoenician, all these ancient languages that are testified by various inscriptions, which draw the ancient – and current – Confusion of that territory”.

Together with the inscriptions, many objects from Egypt and Syria are collected in the rooms; Sara points out how important it is to keep in mind that, since the museum has existed since 1902, “there are countless objects that have traveled through countries in historical moments when today’s borders did not exist.” As a result, “from Syria many things could reach Jerusalem, or vice versa, from Jordan cross the Jordan and get to Jerusalem or vice versa. All the passages from Egypt, which today are impassable, in different periods of history have been places of exchange and travel.”

The Terra Sancta Museum today: what’s there, what’s missing

Today the first two “chapters” have been completed, not without facing some difficulties: “During the preparation of the room dedicated to the Holy Sepulchre we had to transport huge columns down from the Garden of Gethsemane”, Sara points out with a laugh the immensity of the finds and the fatigue that their transport has caused. These are the original columns of the Holy Sepulchre, perhaps even the first church, the Constantinian one, which was located on that place.”

The end of the work around the first two sections of the archaeological museum brings us close to the final completion of the museum layout, scheduled for the end of this summer. At that point, the archaeological story of the Terra Sancta Museum will be complete, ready to close one of the circles that, united, create a timeless and endless story.

A network of museums

The Terra Santa Museum, in fact, in its original conception “is not a single museum, but is conceived as a network of museum centers that complement each other and talk to each other,” forming a single choral story articulated in several places and several points of view.

“Work is also proceeding in San Salvatore to complete the historical museum, whose story will begin about where the archaeological one ends. The archaeological museum comes close to the Middle Ages with objects related to the Crusaders and the Mamluks; the historical museum that will come to life in San Salvatore will exhibit artifacts that represent history from this moment on,” explains Sara. “The idea is that in addition to the ‘episodes’ corresponding to the archaeological and historical layouts, many other small ‘episodes’ are added over time, autonomous but linked to them, i.e. those finds that are still in their places of origin.” Mount Tabor, Mount Nebo, Nazareth itself: each of these places dialogues with the mission of the Terra Sancta Museum, and can be enjoyed as a part of the great story of those places.

This, after all, was the original idea: a museum project that unites the places it tells not only narratively, but also physically, becoming a real articulated system of places that exchange voices.