West of the occupied Jerusalem wall, many stories are hidden between them and the Jerusalemites with a virtual wall, after the occupation of West Jerusalem in 1948, despite their spatial proximity to it;
However, the comprehensive weight of Judaization prevented them from visiting and traversing many of the landmarks that existed before the Nakba and continued, or that were stolen and ravaged.
Among these landmarks is the "Pontifical Institute for the Bible", which was built by the Vatican in the 19th century near Bab al-Khalil (west of the Old Jerusalem Wall) between the French Consulate and the King David Hotel - now - and which contains an unfinished museum, containing unique monuments dating back thousands of years BC. .
The building of the Pontifical Institute of the Bible, which belongs to the Vatican, and includes a unique museum (Al-Jazeera Net)
Al-Jazeera Net visited the Pontifical Institute and its museum, and met Father David Noehaus, who presides over the museum and identifies himself as a Catholic priest born in South Africa, has lived in Jerusalem for 43 years, and teaches the Bible at the institute and other Christian religious institutions in Palestine and Lebanon.
The Museum of the Pontifical Institute contains archaeological finds from the Ghassul period, the Stone and Bronze ages, and other eras (Al-Jazeera Net)
Studying the Bible on its land
, Neuhaus says that the Pontifical Institute for the Bible was primarily a monastery for monks affiliated with the Catholic Church within the so-called "Jesuit Order", which is the most prominent active monastic order in the Church, which has its headquarters in Rome, and the monastery in Jerusalem is one of its branches , Who is interested in studying "the Bible on the Holy Land."
Pots and tools for food dating back to the Lhassul period (Al-Jazeera Net)
As soon as you enter the main door of the Pontifical Institute in Jerusalem, a small church welcomes you to your right, and on your left a museum that contains rare collections despite its smallness, and to the front a little a library for the institute’s visitors, and also hangs in the entrance a picture of the founder of the Jesuit Order in the 16th century, Ignatius de Loyola, who visited Jerusalem in the year 1523.
Pottery vessels from the upper Palaeolithic period (Al-Jazeera Net)
The Pontifical Institute consists of 3 floors, ending with a wide view of the Old City and the west of its wall, and inside these floors live students who came from Rome to complete postgraduate studies in the Bible, and its field connections to Jerusalem and Palestine. Most of these students are monks and priests, who receive an intensive program, and study basic languages For the gospel.
The bones of a baby boy buried in a jar during the Al-Ghasul period, and was discovered on the site of Talilat Al-Ghusool (Al-Jazeera Net)
Discoveries of "
Tlilat al-Ghassul
"
The head of the institute, Neuhaus, says that the monks of the monastery conducted archaeological excavations (northeast of the Dead Sea) on the eastern bank of the Jordan River between 1929 and 1938, and they succeeded in discovering the site of "Tlilat al-Ghsoul", which dates back to the Ghassul civilization (4 thousand years BC ) And the early, middle and last stages of the Chalcolithic period.
Archeologist Abeer Zayyad explains the archaeological findings inside the Pontifical Institute Museum (Al-Jazeera)
We toured the museum accompanied by the expert of archeology, Abeer Zayyad, who explained to us the discoveries of the “Tilayat al-Ghsoul” site, such as an enlarged panel of symbolic drawings of that historical period, discovered on the floor of a house, in addition to the bones of a baby buried in a jar, as a custom for burying children at the time, along with Jars and clay pots, cooking pots, eating utensils, and other relics.
Pharaonic decorations from Egypt inside the Pontifical Institute (Al-Jazeera Net)
A rare mummy
The museum also contained Egyptian antiquities dating back to the Pharaonic civilization, the most prominent of which was a mummy brought from Egypt to Jerusalem, as an antique rarely found in museums of occupied Palestine, where the mummy preserved its structure, colors and cover, and the museum's coffers included Pharaonic statues in different positions of copper and stone from The Egyptian Temple of Hatshepsut, along with various figures of a Pharaonic scarab (beetle), and Pharaonic writings and seals on rock and wood.
Needles for sewing from animal bones from Tililat website (Al-Jazeera Net)
From the Chalcolithic period and the Upper Palaeolithic period, traces were present such as decorative tools made of bones and shells, incense burners and weighing machines, milling and grinding machines, as well as sewing needles, ax heads, scrapers and small sharp weapons.
Pharaonic statues in different positions of copper and stone inside the Papal Institute Museum (Al-Jazeera Net)
The museum also featured statues of the ancient goddesses of Iraq and the Levant, such as the god "Baal", in addition to large quantities of lamps and lamps dating back to varying periods such as the Bronze, Greek, Byzantine and Islamic eras. The museum also included lamps, glass and pottery bottles for perfumes and khakles dating back to the Umayyad, Abbasid and Ottoman periods .