Edgar James Banks, who was born in 1866 and died in 1945, was one of those archaeologists. He tried at one point to sell some of the pieces he had collected to Denison University in Granville. But the university didn't buy any. Ironically, 11 pieces from his collection ended up in Denison's private collection and are display at the Denison Museum.

"Several archaeologists were thought of as the inspiration for the character Indiana Jones. Edgar Banks was just one of them," museum curator Anna Cannizzo said.

Cannizzo said Banks was one of the first to look for the Ark of the Convenant, featured in the first Indiana Jones movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and he studied Biblical sites.

Cannizzo said that when she found the pieces in the museum's permanent collection, she thought an exhibit following the release of the fourth Indiana Jones movie would be timely. She called the exhibit, "Romancing the Past: Ancient Babylon in Granville."

The collection includes 11 pieces that likely were purchased by Banks during his time as an American consul in Baghdad in 1898. Information from the university states Banks bought hundreds of cuneiform tablets from local antiquities markets.

Cannizzo said Banks fell on hard times and sold some of his private collection, which ended up in museums, libraries, universities, theological seminaries and personal collections.

Denison obtained one of the private collections, "Johnstone Collection," because it was purchased from Banks by Dr. E.R. Johnstone. Johnstone's granddaughter, Olive Lee Hart, donated the artifacts to the Denison Museum in 2006. It includes four clay tablets, one stone tablet, a clay inscribed cone and one stone seal, some of which date from as early as 2350 B.C.

Cannizzo, who studied archaeology and participated in some digs, has displayed some of the items used in her work as an archaeologist to show the difference between work in the movies and real life. Her kit, for example, doesn't contain a whip like the one Indiana Jones carries in the movies. Instead, it has several dental tools used to clear debris from an object. Several pages of notes also accompany the backpack filled with tools.

Though archaeology continues to thrive, Cannizzo said, people like Edgar James Banks "really define what we think of as archaeology today."

The exhibit includes a letter from Banks and some interactive exhibits, including video from a dig and maps that show where some of Banks' other collections are housed.

To make the exhibit more family-friendly, Cannizzo created a dig site for children. The large sandbox features hidden treasures that children could find and take with them.

The display is on exhibit from 1 to 4 p.m. daily through Aug. 17. The museum is at 240 W. Broadway in Burke Hall.

The 2-year-old museum is expected to begin exhibiting more of the university's private collections.