Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit opens at Cincinnati Museum Center

CINCINNATI - One of the largest collections of priceless artifacts will be in the Queen City.

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Ancient Times exhibit opened Friday at the Cincinnati Museum Center and will run through April 2013.

The exhibit features ancient artifacts from Israel, as well as the 2,000 year old Dead Sea Scrolls. More than 600 objects from the Biblical to Byzantine Period are also part of the exhibit as well as stone carvings, jewelry, weapons and mosaics.

The Scrolls were discovered and unearthed in caves on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea from 1947-1956. Considered among the world's greatest archeological discoveries, the Scrolls contain the oldest known copies of the Hebrew Bible.

Cincinnati's unique part in the story of the Dead Sea Scrolls will be highlighted in the exhibition. Hebrew Union College and its former president (1947-71) Nelson Glueck played an important role in efforts to recover some of the scrolls from antiquities dealers, authenticate the scrolls, in early academic debate about the significance and dating of the scrolls and participation in scholarly efforts surrounding the scrolls.

The Cincinnati Museum is the third stop of the exhibit's national tour and is the only regional venue to host the exhibition.

Tickets are $15 for members, member children ages 3-12 are $10, non-member adults are $23, non-member children are $15, and seniors ages 60 and over are $20.