Mahmūd Baidun, grandfather of the current gallery proprietor Alan Baidun, was the founder of the original Baidun Shop of Antiquities. Mahmud's interest in the world of antiquities developed in his late twenties. At a time when he was already experienced in olive farming and was enjoying a highly successful career in agriculture, he became captivated by the magic of archaeology and a world that lay beneath his feet, unseen.

Mahmud was born in Silwan, a village located on the southern side of Jerusalem's Old City walls, a place known today as the City of David archaeological site. His earliest surroundings gave him the opportunity to observe and live alonside the most important excavations of the day, conducted by K. Kenyon and B. Mazar.

Mahmud Baidun's involvement with antiquities truly began in the late 1920's when he was working as a landscaper for Mr. A. Reifenberg. It was Reifenberg who first discovered Mahmud's ability and eagerness for learning how to identify and read coins. During this period he proved that, though lacking a formal education, he was a very adept learner.

During the period of the British Mandate, Mahmud decided to open his own antiquities shop, located on Via Dolorosa in the old city of Jerusalem. To this day, over a half century later, the shop is still run by Khader M. Baidun, Mahmud's son. Committed to this early vision of a robust and honorable antiquities trade, Mahmud became the first authorized dealer in Israel and a true pioneer in the world of Holy Land artifacts. For more than half a century, the Baidun Shop of Antiquities served as a gathering place for all people and institutions who were interested in Holy Land archaeology and antiquities.

 From its earliest days, the Baidun Shop of Antiquities played a strong collaborative role with many of the archeological schools in Jerusalem: the Albright School of Archaeology, the British School of Archaeology, L'ecole Biblique des Archaeologies, and the Rockefeller Museum. Mahmud supplied these pre-eminent scholars with various pieces and kept them informed with records of unrevealed archaeological sites. These years were an everlasting spring for collectors and scholars alike, affording everyone tremendous opportunities to acquire important works. During this period, Mahmud maintained very friendly relationships with scholars and collectors, especially with those specializing in the field of numismatics, such as A. Reifenberg, A. Spijkermann, M. Rosenberger, A. Spaer, S. Qedar, D. Barag and J. Meshorer.

A true autodidact, Mahmud devoted his life to understanding the history of his homeland and the artifacts that emerged from beneath his feet. Though he remained illiterate, at the time of his death, he spoke five languages fluently: Arabic, English, German, French and Hebrew.

Mahmud Baidun passed away on the evening of July 15th, 1987, leaving behind a long tradition of three generations in the Baidun family business.