Dead Sea Scrolls Historical Connection

Metropolitan Athanasius Yeshue Samuel (1909-1995), was a Metropolitan and Archbishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, as well as a central figure in the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Mar Samuel holding some of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

 In 1947, while Metropolitan of Jerusalem of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch (also known as the Syrian Orthodox Church), Mar Samuel received news that some ancient texts had been discovered. Samuel arranged to see the scrolls. After examining them, and suspecting that they were indeed very old, Mar Samuel expressed an interest in purchasing them. All four scrolls that had been then discovered would find their way into his possession, including the now famous Isaiah Scroll, the Community Rule, the Habakkuk Persher, and the Genesis Apocryphon. The scrolls were sold to Mar Samuel by Kando, an antiquities dealer.

Following the end of the British mandate over Palestine and Transjordan and the outbreak of hostilities between Arabs and Jews, Mar Samuel relocated to the United States in 1949, and played a major role in the life of the Syriac Orthodox Church in North America. From 1952, he served as Patriarchal Vicar to the United States and Canada, and from 1957, as Archbishop of the newly created Archdiocese of the United States and Canada.

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Dead Sea Scrolls Historical Connections

Father Roland de Vaux holding fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Father Roland Guérin de Vaux  (17 December 1903 – 10 September 1971) was a French Dominican priest who led the team that initially worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls. He was the director of the Ecole Biblique, a French Catholic Theological School in East Jerusalem, and he was charged with overseeing research on the scrolls. His team excavated the ancient site of Qumran (1951–1956) as well as several caves near Qumran northwest of the Dead Sea. The excavations were led by Ibrahim El-Assouli, caretaker of the Palestine Archaeological Museum, or what came to be known as the Rockefeller Museum in East Jerusalem. 

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Newly Discovered Qumran Photographs from the 1950's

 
Bedouin man is posing in pool 

(P. Pennarts, 31 December 1953) 

A Bedouin man is posing in pool, and note channel on right. This picture has been taken a few seconds after Leo Boer took the previous photo. This pool shows evidence of earthquake damage; de Vaux believed that the earthquake was that of 31 BCE, meaning that it was not used in Periods II and III.

This photo belongs to The Palestine Exploration Fund

Dead Sea Scrolls: The War Scroll

The War Scroll, also known as "The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness," tells an end-of-days-style tale of a battle between good and evil.

Newly Discovered Qumran Photographs from the 1950's

(L. Boer, 31 December 1953) 

The photograph has been taken from the north-west corner (standing on the wall), as can be concluded from the number on the rock in the wall in front, looking south towards the doorway, with the north-east corner on the far right.

 The photo also takes in the pool at the back. The photo most clearly relates to Periods II and III. At the right side Peter Pennarts (standing on a high wall on the south) is taking a picture of a Bedouin man  who has descended a few steps in the pool. Together with Dutch journalist Jan Glissenaar, Pennarts travelled seventeen months across the Middle East in a jeep (visible at the left of the ruins). The day this picture was taken they were shown around by Leo Boer.


This photo belongs to The Palestine Exploration Fund

THE DANIEL B DEAD SEA SCROLL

MS in Aramaic on vellum, Qumran, ca. 4 BC-68 AD, 4 fragments sticking together, each 1,8x1,9 cm, of which 3 are inscribed, part of 3+1+2 lines in a Herodian Hebrew book script. The uninscribed fragment, 0,7x2,4 cm, and further a linen cloth 2,2x4,2 cm adhering. 

Context: Part of the Dead Sea Scroll, of which 2 larger fragments (11,3x9,6 cm 14 lines and 5,8x6,4 cm 7 lines), and ca. 9 tiny fragments (mostly uninscribed) survives, with the text of Daniel. Fragment 2 from the present MS matches the largest fragment. They were found in Cave 1 in a lump of vellum consisting of 9 layers also containing 1QDana and 1QPrayers.

Commentary: Daniel 3:26 - 27 is not present on any other Dead Sea Scroll, so this MS is the earliest witness to the text, actually written in the lifetime of Christ and the Apostles.
Originally written 167-164 BC, Hebrew is the original language of Daniel 1:1 - 2:4, Aramaic of 2:4 - 12:13. The present MS is in the original language as well, and copied only about 200 years after the book of Daniel was written.

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THE LEVITICUS DEAD SEA SCROLL

MS in Hebrew on light brown leather, Qumran, 30 BC-68 AD, part of a scroll, 9,0x21,2 cm, column I: (5,0x7,2 cm), 9 lines; column II: (5,0x6,5 cm), 8 lines, in a good Herodian Hebrew book script, upper edge preserved 3,8 cm, intercolumn spaces 2,2 - 2,3 - 2,3 cm, blindruled with 4 verticals and 9 horizontals.

Commentary: This is a unique, new scroll, not belonging to any other Leviticus scrolls. Leviticus 26:3 - 9 is the earliest witness to this part of the Hebrew Bible, only preceded by the Septuagint 4QLXXLeva (DJD IX:119), dated to 1st c. BC. Leviticus 26:33 is the 2nd oldest witness to the text, only preceded by 4QLev-Numa (DJD XII:23), dated to middle or 2nd half of 2nd c. BC (Early Hasmonaean). Leviticus 26:34 - 37 is the earliest witness to the text.

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THE JOSHUA DEAD SEA SCROLL

There are only 2 other fragmentary Dead Sea Scrolls of Joshua in Jerusalem: Rockefeller Museum, with parts of the chapters 2, 3, 6-8, 10 and 17, making the present MS the earliest witness to this part of the Bible. With MS 2861 the oldest biblical MS in private ownership. 

MS in Hebrew on brown leather, Qumran, late 1st c. BC - early 1st AD, beginning of a scroll, 9,7x17,0 cm remaining, column 1: (5,7x8 cm), 9 lines, column 2: 3 lines, in a fine small Herodian Hebrew book script, + an uninscribed fragment 1,8x1,3 cm.

Context: The original scroll was appr. 5,25 m long, ca. 16,5 cm high, with ca. 55 columns, each ca. 11x8 cm with 16 lines and 1,5 cm between columns, lower edge 4 cm and upper edge ca. 1,5 cm.

 

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The only surviving stylus or pen from Qumran.

QUMRAN STYLUS WITH NATURAL INK GROOVE 

Stylus of palm leaf with natural ink groove, with dried ink remaining on the tip. 

Context:  The Temple Scroll, with the 12 fragments, the scroll's linen wrapper, and a palm leaf pen, were found together in a large jar with lid (still in Kando's shop in Jerusalem), in Cave 11 in 1956. The Temple Scroll is now in Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum. 


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Bronze inkwell, Khirbet Qumran, before 68 AD

Bronze inkwell, Khirbet Qumran, before 68 AD, with 2 basket type handles turning opposite direction on the concave top, round corpus, h. 8 cm, diam. 8 cm, with pedestal base, decoration of parallel incised lines around rim and around ink hole. Green patina.

Context: Found 1950 on the Khirbet Qumran site prior to the official excavations, together with a bronze miniature incense altar with 4 protruding horns at the corners, other inkwells in bronze and clay were found during the excavations at Khirbet Qumran in 1951, 1953 and 1966-67. There exist only 2 more inkwells of the elaborate type of the present item.

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Writing From the Isaiah Scroll

 

A few lines (in Hebrew square writing) from one of the two scrolls of Isaiah found in the cave of the scrolls of Qumram, north-west of the Dead Sea.

Israel Museum(IDAM), Jerusalem, Israel

Copy of the Copper Scroll Found in Cave IV in Qumran

Copy of the copper scroll found in Cave IV in Qumran. This is the only Qumran text engraved on metal.The text in Aramaic tells about a hidden treasure of silver and gold weighing about 120-160 tons and lists over 60 hiding places,most of them in Jerusalem and Jericho.

Archaeological Museum, Amman, Jordan,kingdom

Newly Discovered Qumran Photographs from the 1950s

 Tea break.

 

This photo belongs to The Palestine Exploration Fund

(L. Boer, 25 March 1954)  From right to left: Roland de Vaux; Józef Tadeusz Milik; Ernest-Marie Laperrousaz (?); a student possibly named L. Sirand, unknown (also portrayed on photos 22 and 48) and Leo Boer;

The Qumran archaeological site.

Fragments of the Temple Scroll

Credit: The Israel Museum, Jerusalum

Parts of the Temple Scroll are poorly preserved.

The Temple Scroll

Credit: The Israel Museum, Jerusalum The Temple scroll is the thinnest of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Discovered in 1956, it contains God's instructions on how to run the Temple.

The Great Isaiah Scroll

 Credit: The Israel Museum, Jerusalum  The Great Isaiah Scroll is one of the original seven Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in Qumran in 1947. It is the best preserved of the scrolls, and is nearly complete. At the Israel Museum's website, mousing over the Great Isaiah Scroll provides an English translation of the text.

QUMRAN PHYLACTERY CASES

Phylactery A case is constructed of two pieces of stitched leather. It contains four chambers and each compartment can hold a minute slip containing a prayer. Meant to be worn on the arm, phylactery case B has only one compartment. It is formed of a single piece of leather folded in two, with one half deeply stamped out to contain a tiny inscribed slip. A fine leather thong was inserted at the middle, and the halves were folded over and stitched together.

LAYOUT OF PHYLACTERY CASES IN COMPUTER IMAGE

               C         D         B

                    A         E

Reference
    Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, I, p.7. Oxford, 1955.

Photo Gallery: Qumran - Bedouin showing buried jar

(P. Pennarts, 31 December 1953) The same Bedouin is showing Leo Boer (left) and Jan Glissenaar (right) the mouth of a jar buried in the rubble. Exact location is unknown.

This photo belongs to The Palestine Exploration Fund

Leather Scroll Fasteners Found at Qumran

Tabs and thongs like these may have been used to bind and secure individual scrolls. The fastening method is thought to consist of a slotted tab folded over the edge of the scroll (see "Prayer for King Jonathan" scroll fragment) with a thong inserted through the tab's slot. The thong then could be tied around the scroll. Fasteners were generally made of leather and were prepared in different sizes. The leather thongs may have also been used in the making of phylacteries.

Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (90-100)

Reference:

Carswell, J. "Fastenings on the Qumran Manuscripts." In Qumran Grotte 4:II. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, VI, pp. 23- 28 and plates. Oxford, 1977.