This is the cave where the Dead Sea Scrolls where found. There is a small Musuem here along with the excavation of the community dwellings. This community was a sect of Judaism that was at odds with the Temple Priests in Jerusalem. Scholars are still speculating on exactly who they were and their relationship to the other "denominations" of Judaism when Jesus preached, taught, healed, was crucified and resurrected. Scholars do agree that the scrolls were the greatest archeological discovery of the twentieth century. Judaism was and is a diverse community of faith.
Are you finding your familiarity with Hebrew texts allows you to read a bit of the manuscripts? My Jewish friend was amazed when confronted with the Dead Sea Scrolls at an exhibition that her Bat Mizvah Hebrew was enough to let her piece together what was written on the ancient documents before her. That would be cool.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the wonderful pictures and updates.
Yes Barbara, It is amazing at how legible the old scrolls are, particularly the Isaiah scroll. I took a ten week course on the scrolls with a Catholic scholar and read them with his teaching. They continue to captivate me. Also the way they confirm the basic accuracy of the Mazoritic Textual tradition that is used by the Stuttgart Publication.
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