A major repository of archaeological artifacts, including genuine sculptures of the god Baal, and 3,000 world-class cuneiform tablets, is moving to new quarters three times its present space.

Andrews University’s Horn Archaeological Museum will move from its current campus home near the Howard Performing Arts Center and the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary to a university-owned building nearby. Renovation of the building and placement of objects is expected to take as long as two years. One feature of the new building will be workspaces to study, wash and even put together items found on digs, such as one planned for Jordan in 2004.

The Horn museum, opened in 1970, was renamed eight years later in honor of Dr. Sigfried Horn, a pioneer Adventist archaeologist and the museum’s first curator. Horn was named as one of 25 “greats” in Biblical archaeology in the March/April 2001 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review magazine. Among its treasures is the Hartford Cuneiform Tablet Collection, which curator David Merling said he hopes to make available to scholars during the renovation period.

When opened, the Horn museum will have an area of approximately 15,000 square feet, up from its previous 4,800 square foot premises.