Dead Sea Scrolls: Community Rule Scroll

  Credit: The Israel Museum, Jerusalum  The Community Rule Scroll is a sort of manual for life, from governing who joins the community to laying down rules about how to behave at communal meals.  The Community Rule which was previously referred to as the Manual of Discipline and in Hebrew Serekh ha-Yahad is one of the first scrolls to be discovered near khirbet (ruin of) Qumran, the scrolls found in the eleven caves between 1947 and 1954 are now referred to simply as the Dead Sea Scrolls. 

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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Newly revealed Coptic fragment has Jesus making reference to 'my wife'

By Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor

(CNN) - A newly revealed, centuries-old papyrus fragment suggests that some early Christians might have believed Jesus was married. The fragment, written in Coptic, a language used by Egyptian Christians, says in part, "Jesus said to them, 'My wife ..."

Harvard Divinity School Professor Karen King announced the findings of the 1 1/2- by 3-inch honey-colored fragment on Tuesday in Rome at the International Association for Coptic Studies.

King has been quick to add this discovered text "does not, however, provide evidence that the historical Jesus was married," she wrote in a draft of her analysis of the fragment set to appear in the January edition of Harvard Theological Review. The divinity school has posted a draft of King's article to which AnneMarie Luijendijk, an associate professor of religion at Princeton University, contributed.

"This fragment, this new piece of papyrus evidence, does not prove that (Jesus) was married, nor does it prove that he was not married. The earliest reliable historical tradition is completely silent on that. So we're in the same position we were before it was found. We don't know if he was married or not," King said in a conference call with reporters.

"What I'm really quick to say is to cut off people who would say this is proof that Jesus was married because historically speaking, it's much too late to constitute historical evidence," she continued. "I'm not saying he was, I'm not saying he wasn't. I'm saying this doesn't help us with that question," she continued.

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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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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.

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. 

Linen Textiles Found in Qumran Cave

The textiles shown here are two out of scores of pieces collected together with scrolls and other objects from the floor of the Qumran Cave 1 in the spring of 1949. The textiles were examined at the H. M. Norfolk Flax Establishment in England, and the material was identified as linen. A total of seventy-seven pieces, plain and decorated, were cataloged and described by the renowned textile expert Grace M. Crowfoot.

It is possible that all of the cloths found at Qumran are linked with the scrolls. Some of them were certainly scroll wrappers; the remains of one scroll was found wrapped in a small square of linen. Other cloths, found folded into pads, may have formed a packing for worn-out scrolls inside the scroll jars. Still other pieces--with corners twisted or bound with linen cord--may have been used as protective covers, tied over the jar tops.

The wrapped scrolls may have been concealed in the cave at a time of national panic or simply buried, as was a common practice, when they wore out. The condition of the cloths would coincide with either suggestion.

This cloth is cut along three sides, rolled and oversewn with a single thread; the fourth edge has a corded starting border in twining technique, followed by a woven strip and an open unwoven space. It was found folded into a pad and was probably used as packing material for discarded scrolls.

The edges of this cloth are cut, rolled, and whipped on two opposite sides with single thread. On the other two sides, a double thread was used. Two corners are twisted, and the third has a piece of string knotting it, indicating that it was probably used as a cover for a scroll jar.

Reference:
    Crowfoot, G. M. "The Linen Textiles." In Qumran Cave I. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, I, pp. 18-38. Oxford, 1955.

Artifacts from the Qumran Site: Cooking Pots

This flattened pot has a ribbed shoulder and a short, wide neck. The firing is metallic.

These two pots have a similar globular-shaped design. The surface of the body, from shoulder to base, is ribbed. Two ribbed handles span the vessel from the rim to the upper part of the shoulder. The firing is metallic. Traces of soot are discernable over the lower part.