ACCIDENTAL
ARCHAEOLOGY Te most important archaeological artifact related to the Bible was found by accident. Te story of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls is almost as famous as the scrolls themselves.
I
n the winter/spring of 1946-1947 a Bedouin boy was looking for his lost goat in the caves that overlook the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea in Israel. In the caves he found a row of ceramic jars that were tall and cylindrical in shape with bowl-shaped lids. While
most of the jars were empty, some contained complete or almost complete ancient scrolls. The scrolls were made of parchment (or processed animal hide) with ancient Hebrew written on them. The Bedouin boy and his family removed seven scrolls from that
first cave and, since they looked like old leather, they sold the scrolls to a cobbler in Bethlehem. (Spoiler Alert: through a series of events, all seven scrolls were sold but found their way back to the State of Israel by 1954.) Once scholars recognized the significance of the scrolls, it was
determined that the caves around the site of Qumran was where they were found. From 1951-1956 the caves were explored and an archaeological excavation of the site of Qumran was led by French archaeologist Roland de Vaux. Over 900 scrolls or fragments of scrolls were found in eleven caves near Qumran. The discovery of any ancient inscription or scroll is highly unusual, but to find so many is extraordinary. Couple the amount of scrolls with the content of the scrolls, you get the most significant biblical archaeological discovery to date. The scrolls and fragments of scrolls found include copies of Jewish religious works and sectarian literature by members of the Jewish sect who lived at Qumran from 100 B.C. to 68 A.D. They also include the earliest copies of the Old Testament. Approximately one-quarter of the Dead Sea Scrolls are copies of the Old Testament, with every book of
the Old Testament
represented except for the book of Esther. The copies of the Old Testament found within the Dead Sea Scrolls are 1,000 years older than any previously known copies. You have the opportunity to learn more about the Dead Sea
Scrolls from an expert. This semester, the faculty of Theology at William Jessup University welcomed Archaeologist and Professor Jodi Magness
as this year’s annual spring lecturer. Magness is the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism and has published 10 books and dozens of articles. Magness’ book, The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls won the 2003 Biblical Archaeology Society’s Award for Best Popular Book in Archaeology in 2001-2002 and was selected as an Outstanding Academic Book for 2003 by Choice Magazine. Magness was featured in the IMAX 3-D movie, “Jerusalem” and “The Story of God with Morgan Freeman” on the National Geographic Channel. Magness addressed Jessup audiences speaking on “The Archeology
of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls” in a slide illustrated lecture exploring the archaeological remains of Qumran and examining the meaning and significance of the scrolls.
Dr. Jodi Magness, Professor at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Winner of the Fulbright Lecturing Award from the United States-Israel Educational Foundation, and fellowships from institutions including the American Council of Learned Societies and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
For more information on this lecture
contact
cshaferelliott@jessup.edu or for future guest lectures please visit
Jessup.edu/media.
ATHLET ICS
BY: CYNTHIA SHAFER-ELLIOTT, PH.D. ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HEBREW BIBLE AND ARCHAEOLOGY
JESSUP MAGAZINE 9
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