The Dead Sea Scrolls
Posted by Kushana Torumekia at 11/27/2007 2:44 PM 
Categories: Hebrew Bibe, Dead Sea Scrolls, Archaeology, Old Testament
Categories: Hebrew Bibe, Dead Sea Scrolls, Archaeology, Old Testament
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I saw the Dead Sea Scrolls (at least some of them) in San Diego. The handwriting on them is small: about this big. They are dark, either from decay or perhaps from past preservation treatments. They exhibit has very low light and the scrolls are in recessed cases — I kept wanting to turn on a desk lamp to see them just a bit more clearly. Each display case had a large photo of the very fragment being exhibited (I don't recall any complete scrolls) and plenty of context in both written and audio form. I saw the tetragrammaton (the unspeakable name of God) written in paleo-Hebrew letters, out of respect (or to make the illegible). I saw a place where a scribe had made a mistake and re-written a word above the line of text.I touched a modern replica of the mystifying Copper Scroll, unrolled, and wondered again whether it was an allegory or a real treasure list. (We've never found a shekel of it ... stolen precious metals in antiquity tended to be melted down and made into something else.) The exhibit had a great deal of archaeological context — and nearly any flat statement about archaeology and the scrolls will start an argument in my field. I saw things I would disagree with if I had the time to stand and think about them, but I had little time at the exhibit and I spent most of it looking at the scrolls, themselves.
There were passages from the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, there were non-Biblical texts about branches of Judaism that no one suspected existed before the scrolls were discovered. (Note: "The Annihilation by God of All The Vainglorious Nations" is a bit long to fit on a military banner — although if the enemy stood still long enough to try to read it, perhaps that would give one a bit of an advantage. (Although I doubt most Romans could read Hebrew.)) There was a letter, part of a shirt, the soles of a shoe (very small - about 23 cm from toe to heel — and if the leather shrunk it did so without warping), some rope, and two plain and recognizable ink wells. There was a computer animation of the water system at Qumran (unless Dr. Magness is right ... then part of it held caustic chemicals that no one would want to bathe in.)
I warmly recommend the exhibit if you are able to see it. It is good for any level of interest in the scrolls; it genuinely had something for everyone and did not assume any prior knowledge. Anyone with an interest in the past will find something to appreciate. (I love museums, but that is not something I can say about most exhibits: too many assume I'm already enthralled by Chingyoung sansu (or know what to look for in.))
-Kushana
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