The Terra Sancta Museum’s new wing, built into the ruined remains of Crusader and Mamluk buildings along the Via Dolorosa in the Old City, showcases objects discovered in excavations at biblical sites over the past century.
Many of the items going on display in the new exhibit, titled “The House of Herod: Life and Power in the Age of the New Testament,” have never been shown to the public. Coins, ceramic fragments, ossuaries and stone slabs bear inscriptions in Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Samaritan, illustrating the kaleidoscopic variety of cultures present in the Holy Land during the first centuries. The artifacts include everything from elegant Corinthian columns from Herod’s palace to humble wares from Galilean homes.
Father Eugenio Alliata, the museum director, said it was important to “present something of the real life of people at the time,” given that the teachings of Yeshua” are so much intersected with the common life of the people,” according to the Times of Israel.
