BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL ΜUSEUM

The Biblical Archaeological Μuseum of the Theology School in the University of Athens was an inspiration of the ever memorable Professor Vasileios Vellas.  The Museum started in 1969 and was established in 1982. The first collection was a commission of copies from different museums such as the Louvre and the British Museum of London.  The Museum now holds a number of exhibitions such as the Tabernacle of the congregation, Temple of Solomon and Herod, Geophysical map of Palestine, the attires of High Priest and Priest, the Code of Hammurabi stele, the stele of Mesa and the Black Obelisk of Salmanassar. Also, it holds a number of copies of the archaeological findings from the excavations that the Department of Theology carried out during 1990-2000 in the land of Israel such as pottery, coins, tools, small statues, sacred vessels, stamps from the 8th century B.C.E. and manuscripts. For the past forty-six years the Museum is open not only to the students of Theology Faculty but also to Schools and to other Faculties. The section of Hebrew Language and Interpretation of the Old Testament which is in charge for the Biblical Archaeological museum always look forward to grow its collection and to protect its heritage.

In this photograph, there is the High Priest in the right corner and the Priest in the left one. Next to the Priest is the stela with the Code of Hammurabi, a copy of the well-preserved Babylonian law-code of ancient Mesopotamia, dating back to about 1754 BC. In between, there is the Temple of Herod (20 BC) and in the back of it, the geographical map of Israel.