Prewitt–Allen Archaeological Museum facts for kids
Display cases at the museum
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| Established | 1950s |
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| Location | Salem, Oregon, USA |
| Type | archaeology |
The Prewitt-Allen Archeological Museum is a cool place to learn about ancient history. It's a small archaeology museum located at Corban University in Salem, Oregon, USA. It started in the 1950s and you can find it inside the university's library.
The museum has over 900 items! Most of these come from the Eastern Mediterranean region. You can see amazing replicas of famous objects like the Rosetta Stone and the Code of Hammurabi. There's also a collection of old oil lamps and a very special ancient papyrus document called a palimpsest. The best part is, it's free to visit!
Contents
Museum History
How the Museum Started
The idea for the museum began in 1953. A man named Robert Allen wanted to create it at what was then Western Baptist Bible College. At that time, the college was in California. Mr. Allen believed that ancient artifacts would help students learn better in his classes.
In 1953, he bought a piece of papyrus from the 5th century A.D. This special piece is now known as the Allen Papyrus. Later, in 1964, Mr. Allen went on a seven-year trip around the world. He visited 39 countries, from the Middle East to Europe. During his journey, he collected many artifacts for the museum. He returned to the college in May 1971.
Growing Collections
The museum was first called the Robert S. Allen Archaeology Museum. In 1975, the Allen Papyrus was loaned to the California Institute of Technology. Scientists there used special computer programs, like those used for Mariner probes sent to Mars, to study it. They wanted to see writings that had been erased from the papyrus when it was reused.
By 1998, the museum's collection had grown to about 600 pieces. That same year, Adrian Jeffers became the curator, which is like the manager of the museum's collections. In March 2008, the museum got a full-size copy of King Tut’s famous mask.
Later in 2008, a very old Torah scroll was given to the museum. This scroll was from the mid-1800s and was worth a lot of money. It was made of tanned leather, stood about 17 inches (43 cm) tall, and came from what is now Iraq. By 2009, the museum's collection had more than 900 items!
Museum Collections
The Prewitt–Allen Archaeological Museum is located on the second floor of Corban University's library. Its displays are set up along the hallway. You can visit the museum during the same hours the library is open, and it's always free!
Artifacts from Ancient Lands
Most of the items in the museum come from the Eastern Mediterranean region. This area includes modern countries like Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Iraq, and Egypt. It also includes ancient lands like Sumeria, Mesopotamia, and Palestine. The museum says it's the only one of its kind between Vancouver, B.C., and San Francisco.
Everyday Life in Ancient Times
The museum has a collection of oil lamps that are very old, some dating back to the Bronze Age. This collection shows how lamps changed over time, including newer ones from the Iron Age and Medieval times.
You can also see other everyday items from ancient times. These include hand tools, scrapers, pottery, arrowheads, tear bottles, cups (like a kylix), perfume bottles, coins, and clay tablet writings. These pieces help us understand what life was like in Egypt, Greece, Palestine, and Mesopotamia.
Special Documents and Pottery
One of the most valuable items in the museum is a palimpsest parchment from around 700 A.D. A palimpsest is a document where the original writing was erased, and new writing was put on top. This artifact has Coptic writing about the Wisdom of Solomon written over older Greek writings from a glossary of Virgil’s Georgics. It's known as the Allen Papyrus or Allen Palimpsest. The original writing is from the 5th century A.D., and it's named after the museum's founder who found it in Egypt.
The museum also has pottery pieces that are incredibly old, some dating back to 3000 BC. These pottery shards are the oldest items in the collection. Other pottery includes a tablet from 2700 B.C. written in Samarian script, found in Beersheba. There's even an Amphora (a type of jar) that came from a shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea.
Ancient Egyptian Displays
You can also see items related to mummification from ancient Egypt. One display shows alabaster Canopic jars. These jars were used to store the internal organs of mummies. Interestingly, these jars are shaped like gorillas!
Another fascinating item is a mummified falcon from about 1500 BC. It comes with its own casket, and the falcon is wrapped to look like Osiris, an Egyptian god.
Famous Replicas
The museum has several large and impressive copies of famous ancient objects.
- A full-size copy of the Rosetta stone, made from a mold of the real one.
- A replica of the Code of Hammurabi, which is about 6 feet (1.8 m) tall. This copy is based on the laws of the Babylonian King and is carved into black basalt stone.
- Other replicas include the Obelisk of Shalmaneser, jewelry of Queen Nefertiti, and a gold bust of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
Besides these artifacts and replicas, the museum also has copies of all the pages of the New Testament from the main ancient manuscripts.
Museum Namesakes
The museum is named after two important people: Robert S. Allen and Frank Prewitt. Both helped start the museum in the 1950s when the college was in El Cerrito, California.
Frank Prewitt was a professor of Bible studies at the college for 50 years. Robert S. Allen was a postal worker and an amateur archeologist. He also taught archaeology at the college from 1956 to 1969.
