The brochure describes the event as "the largest touring exhibit of sacred text and artifacts in history." The 340 relics, including everyday items such as pottery, coins, and tools, are on loan from the archaeology department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The two most famous items on display are a fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the bone box (ossuary) that researchers believe held the remains of Simon the Cyrene, who carried the cross for Jesus on his way to Calvary. I need to tell you not to get your hopes up too high about seeing one of the Dead Sea Scrolls. You might be a little disappointed as I was in the small (maybe one inch by one inch) dark fragment of the Isaiah Scroll that was on display. In fact, the photographic enlargement of the fragment is needed to understand what you are seeing. But viewing Simon's bone box and the other ossuaries on tour lives up to its billing and will not disappoint.

As you walk through the nine areas of the exhibit, Gustave Dore's Bible illustrations visually set the stage and dramatically tell the Bible story. The engravings are reproduced on wall-sized, semi-transparent material with realistic lighted backdrops shining through behind them. Life-size, sculpted bronzecast human and animal figures provide focal points of the historical Bible story. At the beginning of the tour, you are issued earphones and an audio tour of the exhibit, which includes Bible stories and explanations of the artifacts. The narration's dialogue takes place between a grandfather and his teenage granddaughter, thus holding the interest of all ages listening. You punch in the number corresponding to the display number and listen to the individual presentations, all totaling 90-minutes. You can go at your own rate, taking extra time at the stations that capture your attention.

For me, viewing the pottery from Bible times was fascinating. The changes in the oil lamps over the centuries interested me. Seeing the assortment of small alabaster jars helped me visualize the one that the woman in the Bible story used when she poured out the perfume on Jesus' feet. Jugs were on display similar to the ones used when Jesus turned water into wine. The curators of the exhibit do a good job of tying in the Bible passages when displaying the tool or pottery referenced. My husband liked the tools, the weapons, and the coins the best. I felt the most connected to Bible times when I saw a little sandal thousands of years old. It must have been a child's sandal (or either adults had very small feet back then. ) The last stop on the tour is a 3-D movie of modern day Holy Land. Pick up your glasses, sit down and enjoy this special visual treat.

You remember that you are in the Merchandise Mart when you exit from the exhibit area and enter into a 5000-square foot themed bazaar selling gift items from Israel, books and gift items from Zondervan, and Thomas Kinkaide prints and paintings. Kinkaide specially created a signature piece of art for the exhibit, "A Prayer for Peace," which reinterprets a Dore Bible illustration of the prophet Amos on the rocky heights overlooking Jerusalem. Kinkaide said that his newest work is a reminder that peace in our world is always possible for those who believe and pray.

For more information about the exhibit, visit www.fromabrahamtojesus.com