Bijbels Museum
Encyclopedia
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
's stately Herengracht canal. The buildings are famed also for the ceiling paintings by Jacob de Wit
Jacob de Wit
Jacob de Wit was a Dutch artist and interior decorator who painted many religious scenes.-Biography:De Wit was born in Amsterdam, and became famous for his door and ceiling paintings. He lived on the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam, and many of the buildings on the Keizersgracht still have door or...
, which were restored in 1999-2000. In 2002 it celebrated its 150th anniversary in the presence of Queen Beatrix
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University...
.
The Bijbels Museum houses a collection of Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
s, including the oldest Bible printed in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
(the 1477 Delftse Bijbel,) and a first edition of the 1637 Dutch Authorised Version. There is also a fascimile copy of a Dead Sea scroll
Dead Sea scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
from Qumran
Qumran
Qumran is an archaeological site in the West Bank. It is located on a dry plateau about a mile inland from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, near the Israeli settlement and kibbutz of Kalia...
containing the Book of Isaiah
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...
.
The museum houses some archaeological discoveries, artifacts from ancient Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
collected by Leendert Schouten in the 19th century: oil lamps, clay tablets, earthenware, shards of pottery and coins. They give an impression of the religious life of the ancient Egyptians.
There are also some notable replicas of the ancient Jewish Temple
Replicas of the Jewish Temple
Replicas of the Jewish Temple are scale models or authentic buildings that attempt to replicate the Temple of Solomon, Second Temple and Herod's Temple in Jerusalem.-Scale models:...
, including models of Solomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was the main temple in ancient Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount , before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE....
and Herod's Temple as well as a famous 19th-century model of the Tabernacle
Tabernacle
The Tabernacle , according to the Hebrew Torah/Old Testament, was the portable dwelling place for the divine presence from the time of the Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan. Built to specifications revealed by God to Moses at Mount Sinai, it accompanied the Israelites...
: a reconstruction of the sacred shrine housing the Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
described in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
, which the Israelites carried with them during their exile in the desert under the leadership of Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
. The museum also has a collection of religious objects from the Judeo-Christian tradition. The buildings harbor a wealth of architectural and historical treasures, including two of the best-preserved antique kitchens in the Netherlands, dating from the 17th century. A truly modern part of the exhibit is called the "story attic for children," which with light and sound retells biblical stories in three different settings: Egypt, Jerusalem, and the desert. The exhibit was designed by Abbie Steinhauser and Saskia van de Zanden, both graduates of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie
Gerrit Rietveld Academie
-Profile:More than 45% of the student population comes from abroad, originating from over 60 different countries around the world. Most of the classes are in English...
.
Recently, the museum, with financial support from a Dutch lottery, was able to acquire the so-called "Noordwijk Collection," a collection of religious books with silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
coverings.
Though it is one of the smaller museums in the Netherlands, thanks in part to popular temporary exhibitions and extensive renovations its number of visitors increased by 40% between 2001 and 2002, and it drew a record number of visitors, more than 47,000, in 2006. The museum continues to receive government subsidies for its operating budget, even though, according to the Dutch governmental council which decides on these matters, it has not done enough to attract a more diverse (i.e., non-denominational) audience.