Large glass displays showcasing artifacts and skulls of modern humans can be found in the new Anthropology Museum exhibit titled,’Motherland of Religions: The Eastern Mediterranean in Antiquity.’
Professor Blair Gibson said the anthropology museum will be open Monday through Thursday from 8:30am to 4:30pm on the third floor of the Art Building, Room 301.
The goal of the exhibit it is to bring awareness to important contributions made by archeologists understanding the background of the bible.
The Motherland of Religions The Eastern Mediterranean in Antiquity exhibit, came about when Gibson purchased a film on the topic of changing prospective about the old testament era in the Middle East and having to do with recent archaeological thinking to show in his anthropology classes.
“The museum focuses on anthropological themes such as ethnogenesis where part of the exhibit shows how Israel identity was made back in the Iron age and shows cultural interchange in Eastern Mediterranean, where Israel was constantly being run over by the Egyptians, Roman and Greeks and cultural ideas being exchanged,” Gibson said.
Throughout the exhibit, the majority of the artifacts come from USC and a small portion from The Skirball Cultural Center.
Within the past year the Anthropology Museum has renovated and obtained moveable walls and cases making it easier to expand future exhibits.
Students from the Introduction to Museum Studies, Anthropology 20, are the first to create the layout of Motherland of Religions The Eastern Mediterranean in Antiquity exhibit, using the new cases.
“The Anthropology Museum provides a place to visually experience the past to bring the four fields of Anthropology together in exhibits. And being used as a learning tool giving students a chance to dive into the material they have learned.” said Rodolfo Otero, anthropology professor said.