Towards an Academic University Museum

   The Collections

Birzeit University's Ethnographic, Archeological & Art Collections

The Tawfiq Canaan Collection of Palestinian Amulets
This rare collection of about 1400 items includes a   variety of amulets, necklaces, beads, inscribed metal pendants, incantation bowls as well as paper talismans. It portrays evidence of folk custom pertaining to healing and superstitious beliefs. The collection was carefully gathered and documented between 1905 and 1964 by the late Dr. Tawfiq Canaan, renowned Palestinian physician and scholar and was donated to the University in 1996 by his daughters.

The Collection of Palestinian Costumes

More than 15 years ago, the University acquired a selected collection of a hundred traditional dresses and an equal number of headdresses, jewelry and other accessories. These items are representative of the different geographic regions in Palestine such as Bethlehem, Ramallah, Hebron, Bir al Sabe' etc… illustrating a high degree artistry, skill and imagination. see the collection

 

The Art Collection
The University has been the recipient of generous donations of paintings, prints and other objects bequeathed by prominent  Palestinian and Arab artists, thus forming an impressive corpus of about 250 art works. Works by Kamal Boullata, Samia Halaby, Vladimir Tamari, Rashid Qurtayshi, Etil Adnan, Nasser Soumi, Mona Saoudi and Vera Tamari are featured in this collection. Other artists such as Renee Feurer from Switzerland, Jorge Schmeisser from Germany and Jenny Bowker from Australia have also offered their works to the University. In 1999, Marwan Qassab Bashi, the renowned Syrian artist living in Germany, offered the University 75 exclusive works of paintings and etchings representing the various stages of his career. An inauguratory exhibition of this collection, curated by the Director of the Modern Art Museum in Berlin, took place in 1999 at the University. Selected pieces from this collection also toured several Palestinian towns namely: Jerusalem, Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem and Hebron in coordination with the Goethe Institute.

Collections Supervised by the Institute of Archeology The Old Campus

The Traditional Pottery Collection   

This collection consists of more than 250 pieces that were obtained and documented in the 1970's. The core of this collection consists of handmade objects traditionally made by women. The repertoire in the collection is comprehensive and includes storage and water jars, jugs, vases, churns and braziers. A descriptive catalogue has been published by the Institute. 

Archeological Artifacts   

The Institute of Archeology has a substantial number of objects retrieved from its own excavations conducted at Tell Taanek, Tell Jenin and Khirbet Birzeit. These contain pottery vessels, stone and metal tools, clay figurines, cylinder seals and coins. The artifacts range from the Neolithic to the Ottoman periods.

For more information on the collections at the Institute of Archeology, please contact:

Dr. Khaled Nashef

Director, Institute of Archeology

Birzeit University

Tel.: 02.298.2974