The Dead Sea Scrolls New Insights on Ancient Texts

This volume draws readers into the exciting world of the Dead Sea Scrolls – around 930 manuscripts which were discovered in caves near the ancient settlement of Qumran between 1947 and 1956, and which transformed scholarship of the Bible, Judaism and Christianity. Ten scholars working at the forefront of their field address big-picture issues in relation to the scroll fragments, including their preservation and conservation; their availability electronically; and their relation to Rabbinic literature. The book also looks at the archaeology of Qumran, and the history and identity of the community; ancient writing systems; the scrolls in relation to the wider world of the time – the practice of magic and demonology, prayer, and colonial violence and power – as well as representations of them in popular media. The volume situates Dead Sea Scrolls scholarship within broader conversations in the study of the ancient world: Biblical Studies, Religious Studies, Classics, Archaeology, Jewish Studies, and Ancient History.

1.- Pnina Shor and Ashlyn Oprescu, Beatriz Riestra, Oren Ableman, Orit Rosengarten, “The Conservation and Preservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 70 Years Later”.- 2.  “What Does Archaeology Tell Us about the Community/Communities behind the Dead Sea Scrolls?”.- 3. “Archaeology and Text: Khirbet Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls”.- 4. “What Do We Mean When We Say Sectarian? Sociological and Anthropological Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls”.- 5. “The Scope and Purpose of Encrypted Writing in the Dead Sea Scrolls”.- 6. “Angelology, Demonology, and Other Ancient Jewish Sciences: Before and After the Dead Sea Scrolls".- 7. “Magic and Demonology in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Retrospect and Prospect”.- 8. “Some Thoughts about Prayer, the Divine, and the Human Self at Qumran”.- 9. “Isolated in the Judean Desert? The Qumran Sectarians in Imperial Contexts”.- 10. “Violence and the Dead Sea Scrolls in Scholarship and Popular Media”.

Alex P. Jassen is Ethel and Irvin Edelman Associate Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University, USA. He is the author of Mediating the Divine (2007), winner of the 2009 John Templeton Award for Theological Promise, and Scripture and Law in the Dead Sea Scrolls (2014).

Lawrence H. Schiffman is the Judge Abraham Lieberman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University, USA, and Director of the Global Institute for Advanced Research in Jewish Studies. He has authored numerous books and articles on the Dead Sea Scrolls, Judaism in Late Antiquity, the history of Jewish law, and Talmudic literature.