The Bible and Orient Museum (officially: ''BIBLE+ORIENT Museum'') in Fribourg,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

is the exhibition of a collection of ancient Egyptian and

ancient Near East The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southeast Turkey, southwest Iran and northeastern Syria), ancient Egypt, ancient Iran ( Elam, ...

ern miniature art, as well as a project to create a modern museum to compare biblical and extra-biblical texts with

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

, epigraphical and

iconographical Iconology is a method of interpretation in cultural history and the history of the visual arts used by Aby Warburg, Erwin Panofsky and their followers that uncovers the cultural, social, and historical background of themes and subjects in the visu ...

data. This comparison is aimed at offering stimulating insights for the advancement of the interreligious dialog.

Responsible body

The Swiss

Canton of Fribourg The canton of Fribourg, also canton of Freiburg (french: Canton de Fribourg ; german: Kanton Freiburg ; frp, Canton de Fribôrg rm, Chantun Friburg it, Canton Friburgo) is located in western Switzerland. The canton is bilingual, with French ...

, the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (french: Université de Fribourg; german: Universität Freiburg) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius ...

and the promoters association «project BIBLE+ORIENT» created the foundation BIBEL+ORIENT in 2005 for the purpose of valorizing and expanding the collection with the aim of its efficient publication and the future construction and operation of a Bible and Orient Museum.

Formation and purpose

Already as a student, the biblical, religious science and

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

professor Othmar Keel collected miniature image carriers such as Cylinder seals, scarabs and

amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects ...

s on his trips to the region of Southwestern Asia and the ancient Near East. Five to three thousand years ago, this “miniature art”, which could easily be carried over long distances, distributed – as a sort of mass communication – important motives and

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

s. At that time it represented important symbols of protection and power and today it reveals the close bonds of the Bible with its ancient Near Eastern surroundings. Keel observed that without knowledge of these symbols, many biblical comparisons, symbols and visions cannot be properly understood and thereby demonstrated the general importance of ancient Near Eastern cultural history for biblical science. By interpreting biblical texts in their historical context, a fundamentalist-

literal Literal may refer to: * Interpretation of legal concepts: ** Strict constructionism ** The plain meaning rule (a.k.a. "literal rule") * Literal (mathematical logic), certain logical roles taken by propositions * Literal (computer programmin ...

understanding of the Bible can be avoided. Furthermore, this approach shows the relations between

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

and

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

, between

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and Judaism, between Judaism and ancient Near Eastern

Paganism Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...

, and thereby relativizes the claim to absolute truth by the monotheist religions. Subsequently, Keel and his colleagues successfully collected more of these precious objects. The midterm goal is to erect an adequate museum with the aim of transmitting knowledge in new ways.

Today’s collection

Ausstellungskabinett BIBEL+ORIENT Museum

Since 1975, considerable donations have allowed the acquisition of over 15.000 unique items from the ancient Near East. Many of them are exposed in a permanent exhibition with 57 extendable, illuminated drawers and 6 showcases, offering a significant insight into the world of the ancient Near East, out of which the Bible emerged. Among them are Early

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

fist wedges from Syria; Near Eastern, particularly

Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...

, Old- Babylonian, Old Syrian,

Mitanni Mitanni (; Hittite cuneiform ; ''Mittani'' '), c. 1550–1260 BC, earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, c. 1600 BC; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat (''Hanikalbat'', ''Khanigalbat'', cuneiform ') in Assyrian records, or ''Naharin'' in ...

and New

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...

n cylinder seals; Near Eastern, prehistoric and Iron Age

stamp seal __NOTOC__ The stamp seal is a carved object, usually stone, first made in the 4th millennium BC, and probably earlier. They were used to impress their picture or inscription into soft, prepared clay. Seal devices have seldom survived through ti ...

s; Near Eastern

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

, idols, amulets, etc.; Cuneiform script boards, from Old

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

n, partly with cylinder seal impressions; Palestinian vessels, partly from the excavations on the Tel Kinneret (Israel); scarabs and similar Egyptian and Egypt-like seal amulets (worldwide the third largest collection of its kind); blank scarabs and scarab amulets; Egyptian amulets and bronzes; Egyptian amulet forms; Ancient Egyptian

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

s, bronzes and

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

clay tablet In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets (Akkadian ) were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age. Cuneiform characters were imprinted on a wet clay tablet with a stylu ...

s; tools; weapons; ceramics; manuscripts of biblical texts; Torah and Esther roles; a Samaritan Pentateuch; editions of the Koran; coins; lamps; Palestinian ethnologica.

Special exhibitions

In the past years, the following special exhibitions were conceived and realized with considerable success in Switzerland and Germany, using parts of the collection and interpretations thereof: ''Animals in the Bible'', ''Publicity for the Gods'', ''

Solomon's Temple Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, , ), was the Temple in Jerusalem between the 10th century BC and . According to the Hebrew Bible, it was commissioned by Solomon in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited by th ...

'', ''God as a woman'', ''Vertical

Ecumenism Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

''.

Project for the Museum

Between the train station and the University of Fribourg stands a 33 meter high defense tower constructed in 1415, which has been unused for decades. In 1998 the canton of Fribourg bought the area containing this so-called ''Henry Tower''. A feasibility study was carried out in order to assess the possibility of installing the museum in this tower and on the adjacent area.

External links

Website of the Bible and Orient Museum

Database of the collection

Future exhibition project

Footnotes

{{authority control Museums in the canton of Fribourg University museums in Switzerland Biblical studies organizations Biblical archaeology Art museums and galleries in Switzerland Egyptological collections Archaeological museums in Switzerland Bible-themed museums, zoos, and botanical gardens