T WASHINGTON

had seen the ancient texts, the reproduction of the Gutenberg press, the Jesus of Nazareth immersive experience, and now the visitors to D.C.’S new Museum of the Bible were entering another room full of cultural artifacts — not the type studied by religious scholars, but the kind prized by those with many a religious friend on their Christmas list.

“Oh, Betty,” cried a woman beside a wall of Biblical-themed tree ornaments, “Have you seen these?”

Behold, dear faithful, the gift shop: Museum of the Bible hats, Museum of the Bible blinged-out keychains, Museum of the Bible frankincense and myrrh body wash.

There are bibles for sale, too, but there’s also another wall covered in books about the Holy Book. Amy Sauerwein couldn’t decide between “A Visual Guide to Bible Events” or “The Journey from Texts to Translations.”

“Do you think my mom will

Museum of the Bible is the brainchild of retail juggernaut Steve Green, of the Hobby Lobby empire. Executive Director Tony Zeiss said the gift shop’s dark wood shelving and glass walls were inspired by another retail establishment: Abercrombie & Fitch, where museum President Cary Summers used to be an executive.

“But I don’t want to get him into copyright trouble,” Zeiss said.

The shelves are filled with items handpicked by a woman who used to run retail operations for Universal Studios, Nickelodeon and Six Flags. Finding more than 2,000 biblically themed items for this shop was a similar task, buyer Eileen Strotz said. She had to figure out what customers wanted to buy (cross-shaped anything), where the items would come from (everything from Israel has a higher sticker price), and how not to offend anyone (the museum has already been criticized for “not enough Jesus.”)

forgive me if I spend more than $100?” the 33-year-old asked.

She was the youngest person on her Saturday morning tour bus coming from Montgomery County, Maryland, where she works as a school janitor. She decided to buy both, then continued weaving through the racks of branded T-shirts, cuff links, fuzzy pens, winter coats, baby bibs — all opportunities to become a walking advertisement for the