Cave of the Warrior (Exhibition)

Exist Dates

1998 August 14 - 1998 December 6

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract

Exhibition. Opened in August 14,1998 and closed December 6, 1998. Located on Floor 4 in the Library Gallery at the American Museum of Natural History. "Cave of the Warrior" was an exhibition featuring a selection of rare funerary objects from an intact burial site of an adult male, probably a warrior of high rank, dating to the early 4th millennium BCE (late Chalcolithic Period).

Summary

"Cave of the Warrior" was an exhibition featuring a selection of rare funerary objects from an intact burial site of an adult male, probably a warrior of high rank, dating to the early 4th millennium BCE (late Chalcolithic Period). The artifacts were discovered in 1993 in Israel's Judean Desert by the Israeli Antiquities Authority. Among the items on display were three textiles; a large plaited reed mat; a coiled basket; a wooden bowl; a bow, deliberately broken; a stick; a pair of leather sandals; a large Canaanean type knife and a fragmentary blade. The funerary objects were supplemented by several rare items collected from other recently excavated Israeli sites. These included a ceramic ossuary, a ceramic incense burner, a copper mace-head, and a copper standard. All were on loan from the Israeli Antiquities Authority. The exhibit also included modern replicas of a bow, six arrows, and a pair of leather sandals, all reconstructed according to the manufacturing processes and with material appropriate to the period. The bow was reconstructed by Edward McEwen, an archer and bowyer with the Society of Archer Antiquaries in London. The exhibition was made possible by a friend of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Its presentation at the American Museum of Natural History was made possible through the support of the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Endowment Fund. Additional funding was provided by the Joseph Rosen Foundation. Curated by Tamar Schick of the Israeli Antiquities Authority, and organized by the Museum by Craig Morris, dean of science, the exhibition was on view in the Library Gallery of the American Museum of Natural History from August 14 through December 6, 1998.

Individuals and institutions involved in the creation of the exhibition: Israeli Antiquities Authority; Craig Morris; Tamar Schick; Edward McEwen.

Sources

American Museum of Natural History Press Release, July 1998. Departmental Records, 101; American Museum of Natural History Library Archives.

American Museum of Natural History Press Release: Recent Exhibitions at AMNH, April 2001. Departmental Records, 101; American Museum of Natural History Library Archives.

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Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

American Museum of Natural History. Library Gallery.
Location of exhibition.

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