But the Akron show will have something the other cities didn't -- everyday items from the time of the people in the Second Temple period.
The items are on loan from the permanent museum collection in the Flora Archaeological Center at Ashland Theological Seminary.
Ashland is also acquiring one of the scroll fragments by partial donation from Bath Township art dealer Bruce Ferrini, who owns the scroll fragments and most of the ancient writings and manuscripts of the Old and New Testaments on display at the Knight Center.
The Ashland items include a limestone ossuary, similar in style and shape to the so-called ``James ossuary,'' which had been widely held out as the possible burial box of Jesus' brother.
They also include an ancient foot-washing basin with a prominent foot rest and alabaster anointing jar; more than a dozen ancient ceramic lamps that cover a 2,500-year period from the time of Abraham to the early Christian Church; everyday cosmetic pieces used by women of antiquity; a marble tombstone of a Roman woman believed to be from the 4th century; and flasks that people in ancient times used to carry water, olive oil, ointment and wine.
``The written material is the most exceptional, but the items from our collection illuminate life among the people of the ancient world,'' said O. Kenneth Walther, curator of the Flora Center and a professor of Greek and New Testament at Ashland.
``Our objects, most of which would have been used in everyday life, complement the exhibit because they give you a fuller picture of life in those times. Rarely do people get an opportunity to see this type of display -- this kind of comprehensive history of writing with the complement of ancient artifacts.''
Kind of careless of them not even to mention that most scholars think the "James Ossuary" is a forgery.
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