Jeeninga Museum

Good to know

• Museum
• 2 kmfrom Anderson center
• Wheelchair accessentrance
• Parking
• Restroom
• Official site
• 4.2 / 56 reviews
• Anderson

What You'll See

Over 360 original artifacts are on display, arranged chronologically from the Early Bronze Age through the Roman occupation of the Levant — a region encompassing modern Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. The collection includes everyday objects like ceramic cookware and oil lamps alongside more evocative pieces: funerary goods, figurines and idols, weapons, and inscribed texts. Levantine pottery forms the backbone of the display, illustrating the seriation dating technique that archaeologists use to place objects into chronological sequence based on evolving shape and decoration.↗↗

Among the standout pieces is a zoomorphic amphora recovered from a shipwreck 30 feet underwater off the coast of Turkey near ancient Tarsus, the birthplace of the Apostle Paul. Dated between roughly 800 and 200 BC, this elaborately crafted vessel embodies the maritime trade networks that connected the Greek Aegean to the Levant and Egypt — a world in which wine, weapons, grain, spices, textiles, and cosmetics flowed across the Mediterranean.↗

The museum also displays high-quality replicas of some of the ancient world's most famous monuments: the Rosetta Stone (British Museum), the Code of Hammurabi and Mesha Stele (Louvre), the Siloam Inscription (Istanbul Museum), Shalmaneser's Obelisk, Sennacherib's Prism, and the Egyptian goddess Selket (Cairo Museum). These were added during Dr. Jeeninga's tenure for educational purposes and remain useful for understanding the great inscriptional and sculptural traditions of the region.

The Story Behind the Collection

Dr. Gustav Jeeninga was born in 1924 in Limburg, Netherlands, the son of a coal miner and pioneer pastor. After surviving forced labor in Nazi-occupied Berlin, he came to Anderson University in 1947 and built a career as professor of Biblical Studies and Archaeology. He participated in six major archaeological digs, including work at Caesarea Maritima and Tel Rumeith in Israel, and sites in Jordan and Cyprus. His personal teaching collection — begun with a replica of a Sumerian priest statue — grew into a formal museum in 1963.↗↗

After Jeeninga's retirement in 1989, Dr. David Neidert became director and the collection continued to grow. A 2019 relocation from the School of Theology basement to York Performance Hall brought improved climate control and a far more public setting. Today the museum is guided by the university's Department of History and Political Science, and Anderson students in Public History and other majors contribute research on individual objects that is shared online.↗↗

Plan Your Visit

The Jeeninga Museum is located on the ground floor of York Performance Hall on the Anderson University campus at 1123 Anderson University Boulevard. Free parking is available in the visitors' lot outside the Krannert Fine Arts Center; enter York Performance Hall through the brick underpass. The museum is open Tuesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon during the academic year. Outside those hours and during summer, viewing can be arranged by appointment.↗↗

The museum is fully wheelchair accessible with power-assist doors and an elevator to other floors of the building. A manual wheelchair can be provided free of charge with one week's advance reservation. Large-print guides and tactile educational materials are available for visually impaired visitors with two weeks' notice. Guided tours for school, church, and community groups of all ages can be arranged by phone.↗↗

If you happen to be on campus for a concert or university event, take a few minutes before the show or during intermission to wander through the gallery — it is visible from the main hall, and even a brief encounter with these objects spanning millennia offers a surprising sense of connection to the ancient Mediterranean world.

Who Will Enjoy It Most

This is a small, specialized museum that rewards visitors with an interest in archaeology, ancient history, Biblical studies, or material culture. It's especially well suited to students, educators, faith communities, and anyone who appreciates how a compact collection can illuminate thousands of years of civilization. In the words of curator David Murphy, it is 'a unique resource in central Indiana, gathering a rich range of striking objects in a variety that is unusual for a collection of such comparatively modest dimensions.'↗