The Dominican École biblique in Jerusalem was founded in 1890 as a Practical school for biblical studies. As a religious institution, it was conceived by Father Lagrange for the purpose of contributing to the scientific study of the “rediscovered” Holy Land and establishing a Catholic involvement in “Palestinology”—exegetic and scientific projects that were overwhelmingly dominated by Protestants—through research and fieldwork via exploration, excavation, and photography.

Deeply concerned with the fate of the “France du Levant,” and eager to maintain her protectorate and presence there through many, mostly Catholic, institutions, France decided to institutionalize its archaeological explorations in the region, and after some decades and debates, both among the French and internationally, the École biblique et archéologique française was founded in 1920.

The aim of the paper will be to analyze this process of institutionalization, wherein political and religious interests were combined to show how important it was to have a school that could work “for God and country” in a “Catholic and French” spirit. The paper will also present the École biblique’s contribution to archaeological exploration, from its beginnings up to the present.