The museum is closed for the summer break.

Visit the Archaeology Museum

Current Exhibition: Vessels in Time

A replica of the Annals of Sennacherib and a fragment of the Annals of Sennacherib from a clay cylinder on loan from Yale University

The model shows the city of Lachish under Assyrian attack.

A volunteer dry sieving dirt at Lachish dig sight

Students and volunteers excavating at Lachish

Vessels in Time

The Lynn H. Wood Archaeological Museum invites you to embark on a journey through the biblical world, where ancient ceramic vessels hold powerful stories. These artifacts transport us to the times of Abraham, David, Deborah, Esther, Nebuchadnezzar, and Jeremiah—individuals who conveyed important messages for future generations. Through archaeology, we reconnect with the people, places, and events of biblical history, allowing us to draw inspiration and valuable lessons from the past.

Farm House

The beit ab, or "house of the father," stood as the cornerstone of Israelite society, embodying a powerful dynamic where the father guided his household as a king leads a nation, while God watched over the children of Israel with love and care. Within this unity, extended families shared life in a single household or family compound, cultivating a deep bond. Their daily existence thrived on agrarian activities, reflecting the harmony between nurturing the land and fostering connections through animal husbandry and agriculture.

Jericho Chalice

This ceramic chalice embodies the artistry of its time with its carinated design. In the Early Bronze Age, potters made a groundbreaking shift by introducing the slow wheel to ceramic production. The advent of the fast wheel in the Middle Bronze Age transformed craftsmanship, enabling artisans to create more elaborate forms that were thinner, more uniform, and beautifully finished. The carinated pot, with its sharp, angular ridge encircling the vessel's body, stands as a testament to innovation and skill, creating a striking shoulder that defines its character. This remarkable design is a hallmark of this era.

Sennacherib Annals

The replica of the Annals of Sennacherib describes how he left Jerusalem "As for Hezekiah of the land of Judah, I surrounded and conquered forty-six of his fortified walled cities and smaller settlements in their environs, which were without number, by having siege ramps trodden down and battering rams brought up, the assault of foot soldiers, sapping, breaching, and siege engines. . . . I confined him inside the city Jerusalem, his royal city, like a bird in a cage.” The clay fragment of Sennacherib’s annals recounts his early defeat of the Babylonian king Merodach-balagan, king of Babylon. On loan courtesy of the Yale Babylonian Collection

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Replica Model of Lachish

The model was built from the vantage point of the Assyrian artist who craved the famous Lachish Reliefs for King Sennacherib. As seen here, the building of the siege ramp required up to one million stones that were most likely quarried just southeast of the base of the ramp; the progress could be observed from the opposite hill by King Sennacherib as he directed the details of the attack against the city.

Dry Sieving

An archaeological method called dry sieving is used to sift sediment with sieve meshes to find small artifacts that could be easily overlooked while digging. When using these sieves, the particles find their way through the gaps in the wire mesh by shaking or vibrating the sieve. The individual particles have the ability to split apart. To later be examined by the archaeologist.

Group Excavation

An archaeological site is examined scientifically and methodically during an excavation. In order to produce the history of the site, excavations are carried out to determine historical settings and place them in order.

Lachish

Located in the Shaphelah slopes of the Judean Mountains, Tel Lachish is roughly 25 miles (41 km) southwest of Jerusalem and 18 miles (30 km) from the Mediterranean Sea.Lachish was ideally situated on the Via Maris route and is considered the second most significant city in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, behind Jerusalem. It was a double-walled, heavily fortified military city that guarded Israel's southern area.

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Student Excavating

A pickaxe is one of the most common digging tools used by archaeologists to remove and break up very hard compacted earth. Other tools used by archaeologists include: fork hoe rake wheelbarrow Wheelbarrows are used to carry the debris or soil to the dump yard or for dry sieving.