History
Messengers From The Past
The museum is based on The Rosenberg Collection established in 1980 by Professor Lior Rosenberg, head of the Plastic Surgery Department at the Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva.
The history of medicine is the history of man’s compassion to man, fought against intolerable odds (usually imperfectly or wrongly understood), using inadequate and pitiful tools. The “medicine man” (The Healer, Shaman, Doctor etc.) has always been a part of his society. In fact, he was commissioned by HIS society to alleviate what was considered an ailment.
The healer made himself his tools using, ingeniously, the principles, materials, technologies and other existing means available in his culture, environment and time. These tools-of-the-trade (backed by the healer’s moral and defective knowledge) were and still are his only tools. So naturally these tools reflect not only the inventor, society and time in which they were created but also the healers, the very persons that used them.
Many of these tools are gruesome, the stories they tell certainly are, but most of them were conceived, devised and used with the noblest of intentions (so was the Guillotine invented by our colleague: Dr. Guillotine). We should not ignore and discard them, we should look at them, we should study them, learn and internalize the message they carry over, through time, from their past users.
We should remember that our present state-of-the-art in medicine is based on our very deep and wide foundation of the past. We are tall because we stand on the shoulders of many giants.
This museum started as a collection in order to fulfill my personal need to better understand and identify with the world of the profession/hobby/vocation I chose. I felt that only by thoroughly understanding, empathizing and even feeling my giant predecessors I might reach this goal. Reading the cold and sterile letters in the textbooks, papers and references provided me with information but nothing more. These past healers spent innumerable hours devising, using, looking and studying their tools-of-the-trade, books and pictures. I found that by actually holding the very instrument or book that was held and used by a doctor from the past gave me this insight. So I started to collect anything and everything that was connected to medicine thus, “dating” my past colleagues.
By now the collection holds more than five thousands exhibits. Among these exhibits are medical and surgical instruments, hygiene and health related items, books, original pictures and engravings, magic votive and even antique church stained glass windows. All these thousands objects are part of our past colleague’s lives. By looking, handling and studying this plethora of humane paraphernalia one could start to have an idea of what medicine is about.
We have now the opportunity and privilege to see and be part of the glorious legacy of medicine. Beside this opportunity and privilege, it is fun.
Prof. Lior Rozenberg, M.D
Over Organized Exhibitions
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Unique Objects Around the World
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Multi media Exhibitions with a Guide
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Tickets Sold by our Organization
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The Rosenberg Museum of Medicine – All Rights Reserved Ben-Gurion University of the Negev – Faculty of Health Sciences