Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
you're greeted by a video highlighting a diverse array of religious rites—a Christian wed-
ding, Muslims kneeling for prayer, whirling dervishes, and so on.
• Tour the floor clockwise, starting with Christian texts on the left side of the room. There
you'll find several glass cases containing...
Ancient Bible Fragments:
In the 1930s, Beatty acquired (possibly through the black
market) these 1,800-year-old manuscripts, which had recently been unearthed in Egypt.
The Indiana Jones-like discovery instantly bumped scholars' knowledge of the early Bible
up a notch. There were Old Testament books (Genesis, Deuteronomy), New Testament
books (Gospels, Acts, Revelation), and—rarest of all—the Letters of Paul. Written in
Greekonpapyrusmorethanacenturybeforepreviouslyknowndocuments,thesearesome
of the oldest versions of these texts in existence. Unlike most early Christian texts, the
manuscripts were not rolled up in a scroll but bound in a book form called a “codex.” On
display (the collection changes) you may see pages from a third-century Gospel of Luke
or the Gospel of John (c.
A.D.
150-200). Jesus died around
A.D.
33, and his words weren't
recorded until decades later. Most early manuscripts date from the fourth century, so these
pages are about as close to the source as you can get.
Letters (Epistles) of Paul:
The Beatty has 112 pages of Saint Paul's collected letters
(
A.D.
180-200). Paul, a Roman citizen (c.
A.D.
5-67; see Albrecht Dürer's engraving of the
saint), was the apostle most responsible for spreading Christianity beyond Palestine. Ori-
ginally, Paul reviled Christians. But after a mystical experience, he went on to travel the
known world, preaching the Good News in sophisticated Athens and the greatest city in
the world, Rome, where he died a martyr to the cause. Along the way, he kept in touch
with Christian congregations in cities like Corinth, Ephesus, and Rome with these letters.
It's thanks to Paul that we have sayings such as “Money is the root of all evil”; “Love is
patient,loveiskind”;“Whateveramansows,soshallhereap”;and“Fightthegoodfight.”
Continuing up the left side of the room, you'll find gloriously illustrated
medieval
Bibles
and
prayer books,
including an intricate, colorful, gold-speckled Book of Hours
(1408).
• Turn the corner into the center of the room, to find the sacred texts of...
Islam:
The angel Gabriel visited Muhammad (c. 570-632), instructing him to write
down his heavenly visions in a book—the Quran. You'll see Qurans with elaborate calli-
graphy, such as one made in Baghdad in 1001. Nearby are other sacred Islamic texts, some
beautifully illustrated, where you may find the rare illuminated manuscript of the “Life of
the Prophet” (c. 1595), produced in Istanbul for an Ottoman sultan.
• On the right side of the room, you enter the world of...
East Asian Religions:
Statues of Gautama Buddha (c. 563-483
B.C.
) and Chinese
Buddhist scrolls attest to the pervasive influence of this wise man. Buddha was born in
