Mystery of Dead Sea Scroll Authors Possibly Solved

Orit Shamir (Israel Antiquities Authority) and Naama Sukenik (Bar-Ilan University) have studied the plain, linen textiles that were found in the Qumran caves so as to determine who the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls were. Lives Science has the article:

The Dead Sea Scrolls may have been written, at least in part, by a sectarian group called the Essenes, according to nearly 200 textiles discovered in caves at Qumran, in the West Bank, where the religious texts had been stored.

Scholars are divided about who authored the Dead Sea Scrolls and how the texts got to Qumran, and so the new finding could help clear up this long-standing mystery.

The research reveals that all the textiles were made of linen, rather than wool, which was the preferred textile used in ancient Israel. Also they lack decoration,  some actually being bleached white, even though fabrics from the period often have vivid colours. Altogether, researchers say these finds suggest that the Essenes, an ancient Jewish sect, “penned” some of the scrolls.

Not everyone agrees with this interpretation. An archaeologist who has excavated at Qumran told LiveScience that the linen could have come from people fleeing the Roman army after the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, and that they are in fact responsible for putting the scrolls into caves.

Iconic scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls consist of nearly 900 texts, the first batch of which were discovered by a Bedouin shepherd in 1947. They date from before A.D. 70, and some may go back to as early as the third century B.C. The scrolls contain a wide variety of writings including early copies of the Hebrew Bible, along with hymns, calendars and psalms, among other works.

Nearly 200 textiles were found in the same caves, along with a few examples from Qumran, the archaeological site close to the caves where the scrolls were hidden.

Orit Shamir, curator of organic materials at the Israel Antiquities Authority, and Naama Sukenik, a graduate student at Bar-Ilan University, compared the white-linen textiles found in the11 caves to examples found elsewhere in ancient Israel, publishing their results in the most recent issue of the journal Dead Sea Discoveries…

Do read on here.

It’s a good article.

New Archaeological Discoveries in Haifa

Custodia:

New archaeological discoveries in Haifa. Mosaic floors from the Byzantine period are brought to light in a privileged area on the Mediterranean.

 

Vicar ‘Sues God’

Over campaign of hate:

A vicar dubbed ‘the man who sued God’ has commenced a landmark employment tribunal which could see a change to a centuries old law.

Rev Mark Sharpe, 44, has asked employment judges to decide whether he is entitled to bring a claim to an employment tribunal as an employee or worker following allegations he was driven from his parish by a campaign of ‘intimidation from toxic parishioners’.

Currently the law states that Church of England clergy, as office holders, are “employed by God” and not eligible to bring actions for unfair dismissal. In a move reminiscent of the Billy Connolly film ‘The Man Who Sued God, Rev Sharpe is now asking to be allowed to sue for constructive dismissal.

Rev Sharpe claimed his pet dog was poisoned, animal excrement was smeared on his car, his car tyres were slashed and home phone lines cut.

In addition, he says glass was smashed on the driveway, heating oil was stolen and he was threatened on the doorstep of the rectory by a parishioner.

He said he and wife Sara were forced to install CCTV cameras at the rectory after being constantly plagued by prowlers following their move to Hanley Broadheath in Worcestershire, in 2005, with their four children.

At one point he said he was even told off by a church official for having a beard, despite there being no rule against it and beards being worn by several of his superiors.

He resigned from his post as rector of Teme Valley South, near Tenbury Wells, in September 2009.

Mr Sharpe, who is being supported by the faith workers section of the Unite union, claims he was effectively forced out of his parish and that the bishop and diocese of Worcester did nothing to protect him…

More here.

 

Western Wall Announcement Tomorrow

Something to look forward to:

The Spokesperson of the Israel Antiquities Authority “circulated an invitation to journalists to attend a press conference tomorrow (Wednesday, November 23, 2011) at which “A find will be presented that challenges the conventional viewpoint in archaeology regarding the construction of the Western Wall of the Temple Mount.”

Although it sounds mysterious, Ronny Reich, whom I met very recently in Jerusalem, said that he has new information about the construction date of Robinson’s Arch. It will be interesting to see what he has to say.

UPDATE:  The news is out here: King Herod didn’t complete the construction of the Western Wall, at least, that’s the new theory.