Metropolitan Museum of Art fixes label on Jewish phylacteries

The label described the Tefilin as a 6th-Century amulet from Egypt.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Pair of tefilin with black straps with blue kippah on white wooden background. (illustrative) (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Pair of tefilin with black straps with blue kippah on white wooden background. (illustrative)
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
After it was found to be labeled wrong, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) has fixed a label which was wrongly given to a Jewish tefillin, The New York Post reported.
The label described the tefillin as a 6th-Century amulet from Egypt.
The Met updated the label their online entry after several Twitter users highlighted the mistake, after which it was changed from 'amulet' to 'phylactery,' the technical term for tefillin, on the museum's site, the only place the item can be viewed by the public, as the museum currently closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic. 
“We always appreciate feedback on our collection entries – as it is a catalog we continually update. The Islamic department houses some objects from 6th century Egypt among its diverse holdings, and we have updated the object description to capture that it is a Jewish ritual object. We look forward to working on providing additional context,” a museum spokesman told The New York Post.

The museum marked the prediction of the time period from which it comes as being between 500 and 100 AD.
The Met has, in the past, had impressive displays of ancient Jewish relics. In mid-2019, a collection of items was displayed pertaining to Jewish families from the Middle Ages located in Colmar, France.
In March of 2020, the museum dedicated a 19th-century model of Solomon's Temple.


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Metropolitan Museum of Art