Some people who were hoping to get a close up view of the Ten Commandments at the Royal Ontario Museum were left out in the cold because of huge crowds.
The Ten Commandments were unveiled earlier this month for a two-week run as part of the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, which opened at the museum at the end of June.
But because of their age, the Ten Commandments are fragile and can only be open to public viewing for 80 hours at a time. After two weeks of Ten Commandments viewing, the show ends on Sunday.
That meant a rush of people came to the museum on Friday night to see the priceless pieces of ancient paper, only to be left out in the cold.
Some waiting outside complained to CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon that the exhibit was a rip-off, while others expressed disappointment.
One girl and her family drove for more than an hour into the city to catch the exhibit, only to be told that it was sold out.
By some estimates, however, hundreds were able to see the display, and many of them were awestruck, Solomon reported.
And staff at the museum said they gave spectators plenty of notice that they should get tickets ahead of time.
"We've tried as much as possible to communicate with people in advance that access to the Ten Commandments is limited," said the museum's Ania Kordiuk.
The Dead Sea scrolls are widely considered to be among the most important archaeological discoveries in history. They were found between 1947 and 1956 in caves near the Dead Sea and are texts of great religious importance.
