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Introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls St. William Church January 16, 2013 Session One. Session One: Introduction. Overview of the Program: January 16th A. Introduction on Discovery B. What the area looks like C. Critical Historical Context. Session One: Introduction.
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Introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls St. William Church January 16, 2013 Session One
Session One: Introduction Overview of the Program: • January 16th A. Introduction on Discovery B. What the area looks like C. Critical Historical Context
Session One: Introduction 2. January 23, 2013 A. Who wrote the Scrolls B. Philo and Josephus on Essenes C. 1QS D. Pesher on Habakkuk
Session One: Introduction 3. January 30, 2013 A. War Scroll B. Isaiah Scroll C. Some insights from Qumran texts as applied to the New Testament. a. Divorce b. “Raise the dead” c. Lift out an animal from a pit on Sabbath.
The Distance between Jerusalem and Qumran is about 25 miles…plus a drop from about 2,500 feet above sea level to about 1,800 feet below sea level.. AinFeshka
Session One: Introduction 1. A Introduction and Discovery. • Winter of 1946-47, a ruin ignored for centuries. • Bedouin from AinFeshkaregularly led their flocks on the rocky hills 18 miles east of Jerusalem. • One Bedouin, Juma Muhammad noticed his goats going too high on the barren hillside.
Session One: Introduction • He noticed a hole on the hillside and threw a rock into the area…heard some ceramic breaking…told his partners. • Early next day, a cousin scurried to the site…wiggled in…found some worthless jars; but found some wrapped packages in a few of the jars, which he carried out of the cave.
Session One: Introduction • Shepherds were disconsolate that there was no “treasure” in the jars; they hung the scrolls in a bag on their tent-poles for an unknown number of months. • In spring, 1947, during the Israeli’s War of Independence, the young shepherds brought their scrolls to Bethlehem…a market town for the Ta’amira clan.
Session One: Introduction Jumma Muhammad and Muhammad edhDhib
Session One: Introduction • After a number of rejections (because of fear that the scrolls were stolen) the boys came upon KalilIskanderShahin, (Kando), a cobbler in Bethlehem who dabbled in antiquities…and asked few questions. • He was a friend of George IshayaShamoun, a seller of cloaks to Bedouin. Both were Syrian Orthodox Christians.
Session One: Introduction J. They went to the Metropolitan of Jerusalem, Athanasius Yeshue Samuel, who initially recognized them as ancient and possibly authentic. After a number of months and negotiations, he purchased Manual of Discipline (1QS) for $97,000, 1/3 of which went to Kando and George, and the remainder to the Bedouins.
Session One: Introduction • Suddenly the Bedouins recognized a source of income… • Further, the negotiations between St. Mark’s and various academics became too complicated to recount here…but within a framework of utter lack of trust and fear of being made fools of, the following advertisement was placed in the WSJ by Metropolitan Samuel:
Session One: Introduction • Miscellaneous For Sale • THE FOUR DEAD SEA SCROLLS • Biblical manuscripts dating back to at least 200 B.C. are for sale. This would be an ideal gift to an educational or religious institution by an individual or group. • Box F 206 Wall Street Journal
Session One: Introduction • An “investor” promptly responded and negotiated a price of $250,000 for the scroll…turned out to be the Great Isaiah Scroll. • When scholars expressed their dismay, it turned out that the “investor” was an agent of YigaelYadin, the General of the Army, an Archeologist, and son of Professor Sukenik of the Hebrew University.
Session One: Introduction • The Scrolls returned to Jerusalem. • The EcoleBiblique et Archeologique (founded by Dominicans in 1890) had become involved in evaluating the scrolls. • Pere Roland De Vaux was an Archeologist who recognized that there might be more texts near Qumran and he negotiated the right to oversee the archaeology of the site.
Session One: Introduction Who were the people who wrote the Scrolls? Two sections to discuss: • Origin of the Group • What we can learn about them from Philo and Josephus.
Session One: Introduction 323 BC…Alexander the Great: Born in Pella, Macedonia in 356 BC Died in Babylon on June 13, 323. With no succession plan, five generals engaged in warfare. There were two main successors: Ptolemy in Egypt and Seleucus in Syria.
Session One: Introduction Antiochus IV Epiphanes was ruler of Empire in 175 BC. Wanted a single religion in his empire; insisted on a statue of Zeus in the Jewish Temple. Produced the Maccabbean War, where a small insignificant group defeated one of the world’s superpowers.
Session One: Introduction Book of Daniel is dated during or shortly after his reign…died in 164 BC. 1, 2 and 4 Maccabees are narrations of the oppression of Antiochus IV. In 165, the leaders of the Maccabees (known as the “Hasmoneans”) became the rulers of reconstituted Israel.
Session One: Introduction Pharisees: • Held to Oral Torah • Believed in life after death • Were “populist” Sadducees: • Rejected Oral Torah • Rejected life after death
Session One: Introduction Sadducees and Pharisees fought for political hegemony around 100 BCE: The Sadducees Generally controlled the High Priesthood and Sanhedrin: The Pharisees attempted to gain power… Civil war occurred between these two factions until Pompey came from Rome to settle things down in 67 BC.
Session One: Introduction In addition, Josephus and Philo both identify a third group, called “Essenes.” They seem to have been more rigorous in following Torah than either the Pharisees or the Sadducees. Some (Fr. deVaux) held the Essenes were the inhabitants of Qumran.
Session One: Introduction We’ll pick up the story of who actually wrote the Scrolls in the next session.
