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The Early Days: The 70th Anniversary of the Museum for Jewish Antiquities
(Curator: Daphna Tsoran)

The year 2011 marks the seventieth anniversary of the dedication of "The Museum for Jewish Antiquities" on the Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus. A new exhibition, slated to open shortly in the Institute of Archaeology, will tell the story of the University's archaeological Collection from its inception, through the establishment of the State of Israel.

In the winter of 1936, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem received word of a large donation. Gedaliahu Morris Kootcher, a South African Jew, bequeathed his estate to the Hebrew University for the purpose of building an archaeological museum that would include a Jewish Department. His donation enabled the construction of The Museum for Jewish Antiquities and its subsequent dedication in 1941 on Mount Scopus. Today the museum is part of the building that houses the Institute of Archaeology, first headed by Professor E. L. Sukenik.

The Museum of Jewish Antiquities was originally intended to display objects that would present the history of the Jewish people in Palestine and the Diaspora. The Collection grew from a core of archaeological artifacts to be used for study purposes, beginning with finds that were already in the University in 1928. Thousands of objects were subsequently added - from wills, inheritances, gifts, and from the inventory of the Institute of Archaeology's excavations over the years.


Professor Sukenik and his staff in the Archaeological Collections room before moving to the new building. 1930s
(photo: the Institute of Archaeology)

These included artifacts from the collections of Baron Edmond de Rothschild and the Israel Exploration Society, as well as from expeditions to sites such as Samaria, Tel Gerisa (Tell Jerishe), ancient synagogues in the Galilee, and Second-Temple period burial caves around Jerusalem.

The Collection initially mirrored the ambience of the Jewish Yishuv in Palestine in the 1930s. The vision to build a society with active cultural institutions that would strengthen the tie between the Jewish people, its land, and its past finds expression in the types of artifacts connected to Jewish archaeology in particular and to the various cultures in the country generally.

Hebrew Pamphlet
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