PHILADELPHIA, PA July 2015—They are treasures that have survived centuries and even millennia: one of the world’s oldest fragments of the gospel of Saint Matthew; the first Bible printed in the Americas, in the Native American language of Massachuset; a New Testament Bible published in twelve languages in Nuremberg, Germany, 1599; the earliest version of the Mesopotamian flood story, pre-dating the Biblical story of Noah, written on clay nearly 2,500 years ago.
In honor of the first visit by Pope Francis and the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, the Penn Museum, in conjunction with the Penn Libraries, offers Sacred Writings: Extraordinary Texts of the Biblical World, a special exhibition of rare artifacts from the Museum Collection and rare books and manuscripts from the Penn Libraries. On view August 15 through November 7, Sacred Writings provides the centerpiece experience for a Museum visit, where a special focus on the ancient Near East, Egypt, and the Canaan and Ancient Israel galleries and beyond affords visitors a unique opportunity to delve into ancient cultures and Bible-era art and artifacts.
Ten texts are featured in Sacred Writings: Extraordinary Texts of the Biblical World:
Treasures from the Penn Museum:
One of the world’s oldest fragments of the gospel of Saint Matthew, written on papyrus and dating to the 3rd century CE, was once part of a codex (book). This fragment, written in ancient Greek, contains the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 1: 1-9 and 12-20), a section that details the lineage of Jesus. (This is one of two genealogies of Jesus provided in the New Testament; the Gospel of Luke offers a largely different genealogy).
An ancient clay tablet in Sumerian cuneiform from the site of Nippur in Mesopotamia (now in Iraq), circa 1650 BCE, contains the earliest version of the Mesopotamian flood story. This tale becomes part of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and tells of a flood that destroyed humankind—the story closely parallels the biblical story of Noah.
A richly decorated, illuminated Qur’an from Iran, believed to have been made in Cairo in 1164, is written in Naskhi (early Arabic script), and features the complete text of the Qur’an in black script, with commentary in red script.
Treasures from the Penn Libraries’ Collections:
An illuminated Latin Bible produced in Arras, France in the late 13th century.
The first authorized Roman Catholic translation of the New Testament Bible into English, printed at Reims, France, through the efforts of English Catholic exiles, in 1582.
The first complete Bible printed in the New World, a monumental translation of the Bible into the Native American Massachuset language, by Puritan missionary John Eliot, in 1663.
A polyglot New Testament Bible compiled by German scholar Elias Hutter with side by side text in twelve languages—Syriac, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German, Czech, Italian, Spanish, French, English, Danish, and Polish—printed in Nuremberg in 1599.
A late 15th century Italian illustrated manuscript copy of Werner Rolevinck’s history of the world from the creation to the election of Pope Sixtus IV.
An early 16th century Rabbinic Bible from the famed Hebrew printing house of Daniel Bomberg in Venice, Italy.
A limited edition contemporary Bible from the Pennyroyal Caxton Press, 1999, designed and illustrated by Barry Moser.
Bringing together scholars from diverse areas at the University of Pennsylvania, Sacred Writings: Extraordinary Texts of the Biblical World is co-curated by Dr. Mitch Fraas, Curator, Special Collections, the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania Libraries; Dr. Renata Holod, Curator, Near East Section; Dr. Phillip Jones, Associate Curator and Keeper, Near East Section, Penn Museum; Dr. Steve Tinney, Associate Curator-in-Charge, Near East Section, Penn Museum; and Dr. Jennifer Wegner, Associate Curator, Egyptian Section, Penn Museum.
Bible Era and Bible Region Galleries
In addition to the special exhibition, visitors interested in the biblical era and region can step back in time to explore rare art, artifacts and large-scale photographs in several galleries: the Museum’s renowned Egypt (Sphinx) gallery and a side gallery, Amarna, Ancient Egypt’s Place in the Sun; Iraq’s Ancient Past: Rediscovering Ur’s Royal Cemetery; Canaan and Ancient Israel; and Sacred Spaces: The Photography of Ahmet Ertug, featuring spectacular large-scale photographs of Byzantine-era churches in Constantinople (Istanbul) and the Cappadocia region of Turkey.
About the Penn Libraries: The Penn Libraries serve the world-class faculty and students of Penn’s 12 schools. The Libraries’ collections comprise more than 7 million volumes, over 100,000 journals, some 2 million digitized images, and extraordinary rare and unique materials that document the intellectual and cultural experience of ancient and modern civilizations. Through our collaborative relationships, we supplement Penn’s great local collections with physical access to the Center for Research Libraries (approximately 5 million items), the combined holdings of the Ivies (more than 70 million volumes), and exclusive electronic access to some 2 million public domain titles in the HathiTrust. Today, the Libraries play an instrumental role in developing new technologies for information discovery and dissemination and are noted for groundbreaking work in digital library design. To learn more about the Penn Libraries, visit http://www.library.upenn.edu.
About the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts: The Kislak Center is a vibrant space that brings together people, technology and unique content. Located on the top floor of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library, it was redesigned in 2013 to allow several different groups to interact with objects of study simultaneously, increasing the use of primary resources in the University’s curriculum and access to the Libraries’ resources for the larger scholarly community. Today the Kislak Center encompasses the Annenberg Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Furness Memorial Shakespeare Library, the Edgar Fahs Smith Memorial Collection and the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies. To learn more about the Kislak Center, visit http://www.library.upenn.edu/kislak.
About the Penn Museum: The Penn Museum (the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology) is dedicated to the study and understanding of human history and diversity. Founded in 1887, the Museum has sent more than 350 archaeological and anthropological expeditions to all the inhabited continents of the world. With an active exhibition schedule and educational programming for children and adults, the Museum offers the public an opportunity to share in the ongoing discovery of humankind’s collective heritage.
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