About the Badè

The Badè Museum of Biblical Archaeology has been an integral part of Pacific School of Religion since the time the museum was conceived. William F. Badè, professor of Old Testament literature and Semitic languages at PSR from 1902 until 1936, first founded the Palestine Institute (which would later become the Badè Museum) in 1927. The Institute was intended to provide research opportunities for Biblical scholars and archaeologists, using the collection of archaeological material that Badè brought back to Berkeley from the site he excavated in Palestine, Tell en-Nasbeh.

Though the size and scope of the Badè Museum’s displays have fluctuated over the years, one thing that has not changed is the gallery and collection’s incredible value to students, scholars, and visitors alike as the largest collection of its type west of Chicago. This exhibit highlights the history of the museum with a small display of photographs, newspaper articles, and brochures commemorating its various stages.

The collections of the Badè Museum of Biblical Archaeology span a period of some 3,000 years and include a phenomenal array of everyday artifacts such as cooking pots, grinding stones, lamps, and agricultural implements from ancient Palestine along with colorful Greek and Cypriot ceramics, scarabs from Egypt, and cuneiform tablets from ancient Mesopotamia. The Badè Museum continues the work of William Badè and the former Badè Institute of Biblical Archaeology by engaging in on-going research with the permanent Tell en-Nasbeh collection. Much ongoing research of specific artifacts and object types from the collection is done by museum staff and visiting scholars.