June 1, 2004 -- General admission tickets for "The Dead Sea Scrolls" exhibition, to show in Mobile, Alabama January 20 to April 24, 2005, will go on sale June 7, 2004. Tickets may be purchased on-line, by telephone or in person at the Gulf Coast Exploreum, the exclusive southeast venue for the exhibition.

"Demand is expected to be high. Everyone will want to see these rare manuscripts, including the oldest surviving text of the Ten Commandments, and Mobile is their only chance to do so in this region," says Mike Sullivan, Exploreum Executive Director.

In 2003, the exhibition attracted over 237,000 visitors in 106 days in Grand Rapids, Michigan, making it among the best attended museum shows of that year worldwide. Similar levels are expected in the Deep South.

The short 95-day run of the exhibit and the need to control the number of visitors in the gallery means a limited supply of tickets. As a result, only 50 timed tickets will be sold for entry into the exhibit every 15 minutes, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. For the first time, the Exploreum has established a special call center and on line ticketing to handle advance sales.

"We expect ticket sell-outs. We are already receiving ticket inquiries from throughout the southeast and we wanted to ensure easy access to advance tickets for everyone", adds Sullivan.

The Exploreum's J.L. Bedsole IMAX Dome Theater will feature two films to add to the visitor's exploration of ancient civilizations. Showing concurrently with "The Dead Sea Scrolls" exhibition will be the giant screen films "Mysteries of Egypt" and "Mystery of the Maya."

Mobile's "The Dead Sea Scrolls" exhibition will present the largest collection of Biblical scrolls -- seven -- ever to be shown in one place at one time in the United States. On display will be sections of Genesis-Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and

Psalms. The Deuteronomy scroll includes text from the Ten Commandments.

The exhibition also includes five other scrolls of religious texts and 80 archeological artifacts, such as coins and pottery. These tell the story of the everyday life and beliefs of the ancient Jewish community thought to have written and copied the manuscripts.