$53.3M in expenses

Permanent Exhibitions and Collections: Museum of the Bible (MOTB) is a global, innovative, educational institution whose purpose is to invite all people to engage with the transformative power of the Bible. Through interactive exhibits and cutting-edge technology, we bring guests an immersive, personal experience with the impact, narrative, and history of the Bible. Tripadvisor's Travelers' Choice winner in 2023, Museum of the Bible has welcomed over two million guests. In post-visit surveys, 80% of guests would strongly recommend the museum to others. The museum extends its global impact through digital content, including a podcast, online magazine, virtual tours and events, online exhibits, virtual field trips for students, and video series.

$4.2M in expenses

World Stage Theater: Museum of the Bible's World Stage Theater brings biblically-based performances and theatrical productions to Washington, D.C. New partnerships with the Logos Theatre, part of the Academy of Arts, and CREATR, a consortium of worship leaders and songwriters, have brought exciting and immersive performances to the stage. The Logos Theatre has successfully brought to life multiple C.S. Lewis stories from the Chronicles of Narnia series, like, "The Horse and His Boy", "Prince Caspian, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." CREATR, in conjunction with an immersive exhibit at the museum called All Creation Sings offers a series of powerful worship events throughout the year featuring popular worship leaders like Brooke Ligertwood, Matt Maher, Passion and more.

$1.0M in expenses

Research and Education: Museum of the Bible sponsors research through its Scholars Initiative, the mission of which is to facilitate research (primarily on artifacts in the museum collection) and to help prepare the next generation of scholars. To these ends, it provides grants to scholars to pursue research to provide students with opportunities to develop as scholars through scholar/mentor relationships. In the 2023-2024 academic year, Scholars Initiative collaborated with multiple professional researchers and graduate fellows on a variety of research projects. TORAH SCROLLS PROJECT THE TORAH SCROLLS PROJECT, LARGELY CONDUCTED THROUGH IN-HOUSE CURATORIAL WORK, IS DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF THE TORAH SCROLLS COLLECTION CURATED BY THE MUSEUM. THE PROJECT HAS THREE MAJOR GOALS: THE FIRST IS THE PRODUCTION OF A COMPREHENSIVE ONLINE DATABASE OF THE ENTIRE TORAH SCROLL COLLECTION. A Torah Scroll imaging rig is being completed in 2024 to help advance the online database. THE SECOND IS THE CREATION OF A NEW BODY OF SCHOLARLY LITERATURE IN MEDIEVAL AND MODERN TORAH SCROLL RESEARCH, AN AREA THAT HAS BEEN LARGELY NEGLECTED. THE THIRD IS THE RESTORATION OF SUCH SCROLLS AS HAVE NO LONG-TERM RESEARCH VALUE TO A CONDITION WHERE THEY WOULD BE FIT FOR RITUAL USE, AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF THESE SCROLLS TO JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN NEED OF TORAH SCROLLS. THE PROJECT HAS RECEIVED A GRANT FOR PROVENANCE RESEARCH. IMAGING LABORATORY TO AID IN THE CONSERVATION, RESEARCH, AND ACCESIBILITY OF THE MUSEUM'S COLLECTIONS, WE ARE CONSTRUCTING AN IMAGING LABORATORY AFTER AN INITIAL GRANT FROM THE M. J. MURDOCK CHARITABLE TRUST. THIS LABORATORY WILL BE BUILT TO A MULTI-SPECTRAL STANDARD, SO THE MOST ACCURATE DATA CAN BE GATHERED FROM THE ITEMS IN THE MUSEUM'S COLLECTION. THESE IMAGES WILL BE HOSTED PUBLICLY ON A WEBSITE, AND WILL ENABLE BOTH SCHOLARS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO BETTER ACCESS THE ITEMS IN THE MUSEUM'S COLLECTIONS. THE RENOVATIONS have been completed with the first of two camera systems operational. The imaging lab was completed in 2024. A director of the imaging lab and an intern technician have been hired. FRATER PETRUS CODEX PUBLICATION PROJECT THIS PROJECT, DIRECTED BY A BAYLOR UNIVERSITY SCHOLAR, WILL PRODUCE A SCHOLARLY EDITION OF GC.MS.000465, A MANUSCRIPT CURRENTLY IN THE GREEN COLLECTION. THE MANUSCRIPT CONTAINS THE ONLY COMPLETE COPY OF THE COLLATIONES DE TEMPORE OF FRATER PETRUS (LATIN, 14TH C). THE COLLATIONS ARE REFLECTIONS ON THE LITURGICAL READINGS FROM THE MEDIEVAL LECTIONARY FOR ALL THE SUNDAYS AND FEAST DAYS OF AN ENTIRE ECCLESIASTICAL YEAR. THE LESSONS WERE FOR PRIVATE REFLECTION BUT WERE ALSO PRESENTED AS GUIDELINES FOR PREACHERS, SYSTEMATICALLY GIVING MORAL AND THEOLOGICAL DISTINCTIONS ON KEY PASSAGES, COMPLEMENTED BY CITATIONS OF BIBLICAL PROOF-TEXTS IN SUPPORT OF THE GIVEN LESSONS. THE STUDY HAS BEEN BROKEN INTO TWO VOLUMES, AND THE FIRST HAS BEEN PUBLISHED BY BRILL. The second volume will be completed in 2025. CODEX CLIMACI RESCRIPTUS SYRIAC PROJECT THE PRESENT PROJECT INVOLVES STUDENTS IN THE STUDY OF THE FAMOUS CODEX CLIMACI RESCRIPTUS (CCR; MOTB.MS.000149), FOCUSING ON TWO SYRIAC TEXTS BY JOHN CLIMACUS. PARTICIPANTS INTERACT WITH CODICOLOGY, PALEOGRAPHY, TRANSLATION TECHNIQUE AND THE TEXTUAL AND RECEPTION HISTORIES OF THESE SYRIAC TRANSLATIONS. THE PRIMARY GOAL IS THE PRODUCTION OF A CRITICAL EDITION OF THE RELEVANT SYRIAC TEXTS WHICH CRITICALLY ENGAGES THE GREEK TEXT. THE EDITION WILL EXPLORE THE ROLE OF THE SYRIAC TRANSLATION AS A WITNESS TO THE ARAMAIC WORLD IN WHICH THE SYRIAC TEXT HAD BEEN CREATED AND WOULD FLOURISH FOR CENTURIES. THE CCR ENJOYS A CENTRAL ROLE, BUT THE PROJECT ALSO TRANSCRIBES AND INCORPORATES PARALLEL TEXTS IN GREEK AND SYRIAC. AS OF THE CONCLUSION OF THE INITIAL CONTRACT IN THE SUMMER OF 2019, THE PROJECT HAS IDENTIFIED ALL MANUSCRIPTS TO BE UTILIZED, STRUCTURED DIGITAL INDICES, ESTABLISHED IMAGE MANAGEMENT PROCESSES, LAUNCHED A DESIGNATED ONLINE TRANSCRIPTION TOOL, PREPARED A SYRIAC BASE TEXT, DRAFTED A GREEK BASE TEXT, AND CREATED DIGITAL TRANSCRIPTION GUIDELINES FOR THE SYRIAC LANGUAGE. THE PROJECT HAS PROPOSED A SECOND PHASE IN WHICH THE TOOLS DEVELOPED FOR EDITING SYRIAC TEXTS DEVELOPED IN THE FIRST PHASE WILL BE USED IN THE STUDY OF THE SYRIAC TEXT OF CLIMACUS' WORKS. THE PROPOSED OUTCOMES ARE A DIGITAL EDITION, A CONFERENCE AND SUBSEQUENT VOLUME, AND THEN A PRINTED CRITICAL EDITION OF THE SYRIAC LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT. The museum has also been invited to participate in a special research imaging project in partnership with the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. This is a joint lab sponsored by Stanford University and the US Department of Energy. EL-ARAJ ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIG THIS ARCHAELOGICAL DIG, DIRECTED BY DR. R. STEVEN NOTLEY OF THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF ANCIENT JUDAISM AND CHRISTIAN ORIGINS, IS PARTIALLY SUPPORTED BY THE MUSEUM OF THE BIBLE, AND IS CURRENTLY TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS THAT EL-ARAJ IS THE LOCATION OF THE BIBLICAL CITY OF BETHSAIDA. THE FINDINGS ARE CONFIRMING THE HYPOTHESIS. TEL SHIMRON ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIG THIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIG, DIRECTED BY DANIEL MASTER OF WHEATON COLLEGE AND MARIO MARTIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA, IS PARTIALLY SUPPORTED BY THE MUSEUM OF THE BIBLE. The 2023 dig season uncovered a Middle Bronze Age gate that will be further investigated in coming seasons. Jim Elliot Bibles Project Research on the Jim Elliot Bibles in partnership with Wheaton College. In 2024, the complete set of Jim Elliot Bibles were digitized (4 total; 1 in the museum collection, 3 in Wheaton College collection). This set of digital images will be the basis for an exhaustive review of the contents, notes, and annotations included in the Bibles.