Biblical Archaeology Review

The Dead Sea Scrolls and Why They Matter

 
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The Dead Sea Scrolls have been called the greatest manuscript find of all time. Discovered between 1947 and 1956, the Scrolls comprise some 800 documents but in many tens of thousands of fragments. The Scrolls date from about 350 B.C. to 68 A.D. and were written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek; they contain Biblical and apocryphal works, prayers and legal texts and sectarian documents.

This priceless collection of ancient manuscripts is invaluable to our understanding of the history of Judaism, the development of the Hebrew Bible, and the beginnings of Christianity.

Introduction

Remarkable Finds

Excavations Begin

Academic Scandal

Discovery and Publication

What Happened When

Cast of Characters

Caves and Contents

Library and Learning

Historical Context

From the BAS Library

Scroll Spotlight

Bibliography

Comment Talkback Add Your Comment

SCROLLS

JOHN — (6/10/2008 12:30:06 PM)

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

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teacher of righteousness

silvertongue — England (6/1/2008 11:08:26 AM)

does Barbara Thiering's theory of the teacher of righteousness being John the Baptist, fit with the idea that the text is telling of future events when the end of days is imminent?

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The Dead Sea Scrolls

dmanh — USA (5/31/2008 6:29:12 PM)

I agree with Mr. Johson in the fact that the scrolls should be shared publically. No one should have absolute authority as to peace-meal the information out as they see fit.

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DSS

Oscar Johnson — USA (5/15/2008 7:37:10 AM)

I certainly agree with Don. those findings should be shared with the public. remember the scrolls were not found by archaeologist but rather poor shepherds. even then it was shared.

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Photos

William Chamberlin, Bible Collector — United States (5/14/2008 8:05:30 PM)

The Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah is available on the Internet along with an English translation. I also have two different book with photos of the entire scroll of Isaiah. But, that is all a layperson can find. I would like to have photos of all of the balance of the scrolls and fragments.

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Robert Eisenmann

Meyer Gross — USA (5/14/2008 4:36:19 PM)

Why is not Bob Eisenmann mentioned amoung the people surrounding the Dead Sea Scrolls. Surely, his efforts deserve mention

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Where are the photo copies?

Don Srail — USA (5/14/2008 3:15:14 PM)

Why are photocopies of the Dead Sea Scrolls on the internet not available free to the public? Why are the intellectuals who control them allowed to have such exclusive rights, and cut the public out of such finds of Biblical importance? I’m only glad these fellows went into the field of archaeology. Had they gone into the field of atmospherics we would all be denied the very air we breath.

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