Jerusalem Kehilla visits Franciscan museum

Cold weather on the first day of February did not discourage a group of members of Jerusalem Kehilla from the Friday morning excursion. The first place we visited was the archeological Museum of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum at the Flagellation Monastery. Our guide - Fr. Oscar - introduced us into the world of the ancient history and archeology.

Opened in 1902 in the Franciscan monastery of St. Savior, the museum was an adjunct of the newly founded (1901) Franciscan Biblical School at the same monastery. The Museum was reorganized in 1924 and in 1931 it was reopened in its new and permanent location. Three rooms are dedicated to the excavations at Nazareth, Capharnaum and Dominus Flevit, respectively. This prominence was due to the importance these sites had in commencing a new era of Christian archaeology in the Holy Land, in unraveling the question of Christian origins, especially the history of the Judaeo-Christian communities of Palestine. In order of importance the other rooms are subdivided among other excavations made on the Mount of Olives, in the sanctuaries of Jerusalem and its vicinity, in the desert of Judea, in Transjordan, and in two Herodian fortresses Machaerus and Herodion. The purpose is to characterize the SBF collection in such a way as to be correctly perceived as Jerusalem's archaeological Museum of Christian origins, at the service of scholars and pilgrims who, in ever greater numbers, visit the Holy Land.

The Museum also has a small quantity of Mesopotamian and Egyptian objects, a series of fifteenth century paintings and a complete collection of pots from the ancient pharmacy of St. Savior monastery (seventeenth to nineteenth centuries).

Fr. Oscar patiently answered all our questions and after the visit to the Museum, took us to the main building of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum where we visited the library. The final stage of the excursion was the rare possibility to admire the view from the roof of the building. The Old City from above looks different than from the perspective of the crowded streets.

We would like to thank Fr. Oscar Marzo ofm and Fr. Lionel Goh ofm for their kindness during our visit.

Everybody is invited to take part in the next excursion that will be organized in March (the details will be available soon).