Studium Biblicum Franciscanum

Studium Biblicum Franciscanum is a Franciscan academic society based in Jerusalem. It is a center of biblical and archaeological research and studies.

Founded in 1924, the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum is since 2001 the faculty for Biblical Sciences and Archaeology of the Pontifical University Antonianum, the Franciscan university in Rome. Its main seat is the Flagellation Monastery in the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem.

It has a branch in Hong Kong, founded in Beijing in 1945 by Blessed Gabriele Allegra, which produced the first complete translation of the Catholic Bible in Chinese in 1968 after a 40-year effort. The Studium Biblicum Translation is often considered the Chinese Bible among Catholics.

The SBF publishes a number of scientific publications: the theological-archaeological journal Liber Annuus ISSN 0081-8933 with scientific articles in different languages, and the series "Collectio Maior", "Collectio Minor", "Analecta" and "Museum".

The SBF offers two academic degrees, the Licentiate and the Doctorate in Biblical Sciences and Archaeology, a diploma in biblical-oriental sciences, a biblical diploma, and a philosophical-theological curriculum in the "Studium Theologicum Jerosolymitanum“. The language of teaching is Italian.

Fields of study and research are Old and New Testament exegesis, biblical and Christian history, biblical and Middle Eastern languages, and biblical archaeology with several excavations conducted by the SBF. The main discoveries are exhibited in a museum, including the oldest Georgian Bir el Qutt inscriptions.

The library contains appr. 50.000 volumes and 420 journals in the areas of archaeology, biblical studies, Christian and Jewish history, and ancient travel accounts of the Holy Land.

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