Library with Links
The Library of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem is among the largest Christian theological libraries in the Middle East. Its aim since its inception in 1972 is to be a small research Library for an international community of theological scholars doing doctoral and post-doctoral work, esp. with an ecumenical dimension.
Over the years the Library has assembled some 70,000 volumes, and Tantur subscribes to more than 400 journals. The holdings are strong in Ecumenism and Missiology, as well as in matters concerning interreligious dialogue with Judaism and Islam. We also have a rich collection of ancient and patristic authors, as well as the great medieval and Reformation theologians. Our stock of books in biblical studies, systematic theology and ethics, as well as church history, are respectable.
Books and journals from all fields of theology are available in open stacks in the immediate vicinity of the private study rooms on the three floors (united by an elevator). All materials have to be used in the Library, but for resident scholars the Library is accessible 24 hours a day.
The University of Notre Dame (USA) will help computerize the Tantur Library catalogue and make it accessible on-line, beginning in 2009-2010. Our Library users can then search the on-line catalogues of other libraries, in Jerusalem and all over the world.
Links to other libraries in Jerusalem
Jerusalem has many institutes for theological research and study, some with excellent libraries, within easy reach for Tantur residents. Foremost for biblical scholars is the École Biblique et Archéologique of the French Dominicans with large holdings in biblical and related studies, splendidly catalogued.
The Studium Biblicum Franciscanum on Via Dolorosa is also worth visiting.
Archeologists can visit the large Library of Israel Antiquities Authority at the Rockefeller Museum, which among other things houses the original Dead Sea Scrolls. But also the W.F. Albright Institute of Archeological Research of the American School of Oriental Research, and the Deutsches Evangelisches Institut für Altertumswissenschaft des Heiligen Landes on the Mount of Olives offer good collections.
The Jewish National and University Library of The Hebrew University with its 3 million books has just about everything for the student of Jewish Studies (their catalogue is searchable on-line), but a good, accessible selection of Jewish literature is found also in the Abramov Library of the Hebrew Union College.
Jerusalem houses rich collections for the study of Eastern Churches, among them one of the largest Armenian libraries in the world—the Gulbenkian Library of the Armenian Patriarchate. Also available are the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Library and the Melchite Eastern Christian Center. Anyone interested in the phenomenon of Messianic Judaism (Jews who believe that Jesus is the Messiah) will find study resources at the Caspari Centre Library.
