What is the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls , who wrote them and how do they relate to the History of Books?
Significance of Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls provide the oldest manuscripts of the Old Testament ever found. They date back to 100-200B.C.
They provide proof that the Messianic prophecies contained in today's Old Testament are the same prophecies that existed prior to Jesus walking on this earth. This applies to both the Jewish and Christian Old Testament.
The material discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls provides credibility to accepted biblical scripture. Prior to the discovery of the scrolls the earliest evidence of the Hebrew bible was from the 9th century Masoretic texts and from Greek manuscripts.
The Messianic prophecies predicted the future Messiah of the Jewish people, the discovery of the scrolls proves that these prophecies were not contrived after the fact.
Who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?
There are conflicting thoughts as to who was responsible for writing the Dead Sea Scrolls. The most commonly held view is that the were written by by a sect known as the Essenes. It is thought that the Essenes formed away from mainstream Judaism during the Maccabaen period of 160 - 134 B.C.E. It was during this time that the princes Jonathan (160-142B.C.E.) and Simeon (142-134B.C.E) usurped the office of high priest and the more conservative Jews could not tolerate this situation and as such the Essenes were formed.
Sadducees, Pharisees and Essenes.
At this time there were three Jewish groups, the Essenes, the Sadducees and the Pharisees.
The Sadducees were made up of elitists who wanted to maintain the priestly caste.They rejected the idea of 'Oral Law' and insisted on a literal interpretation of the 'Written Law'.
The Pharasees are considered the spiritual fathers of modern Judaism. They believed in the 'Oral Law' as given to Moses by God and also in the Torah or "Written Law'. They believed that God gave Moses the knowledge of how to use the laws he passed down, they also believed in resurrection unlike the Sadducees.
The Essenes believed the other two groups had corrupted the city and the Temple, as a result they moved away from Jerusalem to live a monastic life in the desert. The Dead Sea Scrolls are thought to be based on their beliefs at that time.
Type of material covered by the scrolls.
There are two distinct areas covered by the scrolls, the first being the biblical scrolls and the second being the non-biblical scrolls. As we now know the biblical scrolls confirm the books of the Old Testament. The second group of scrolls are further divided in to sectarian and non-sectarian works.
The sectarian works appear to deal with the rules of the Jewish faith and its application. They also appear to cover the duties and concerns of the priests serving the Jewish Temple and some cover matters that would have been of interest to ordinary pious Jews.
The non-sectarian works appear to deal with the 'Rule of the Community'. This work sets out the process for admittance to the community and the regulations which cover a member's life.
Others believe that the scrolls are the work of more that one group due to the number of different styles of writing.
It also appears that whilst the scrolls found in the first cave seemed to have been stored in such a way as to preserve them, those found in later caves appear to have simple been thrown into the caves in great haste. This may have been due to the impending advancement of the Roman Army.
History of Books.
With regards to the the history of books the scrolls really only provide details relating to the Bible and the Torah, both of which are considered ancient works. The materials they were written on are similar to those used by the Egyptians as most of the scrolls were written on animal skins, papyrus and one made of copper. The were written in carbon-based ink from right to left, using no punctuation.
The Copper Scroll
The 'Copper Scroll' is considered of interest because unlike the other scrolls found it did not contain biblical nor non-biblical works, but instead appeared to be a list of places where 'treasure' had been hidden. This particular scroll was not examined until five years after it was discovered in 1952 as no-one was sure how to open it without damaging in further. In the end it was decided to cut the scroll into sections to enable it to be translated.
It was after the information was translated that disagreements arose as to who wrote the scrolls, due to the fact that the items listed on the scroll were obviously of some value and this did not fall in line with the simple life that the Essenes appeared to live.
No-one has been able to place a true value on the items described in the scroll nor has anyone ever found any of the supposed treasure. The reasons for this could be that no-one truely knows who actually wrote this particular scroll and the fact that the landscape around Jerusalem has changed dramatically since the time the scroll was written.
References:
Books;
Hodge, Stephen 2001.The Dead Sea Scrolls, Piatkus, London.
25 Fascinating Facts Dead Sea Scrolls About the discovery at Qumran 1996-2005, Century One Bookstore, viewed 18th May 2010, http://www.centuryone.com/25dssfacts.html
Kohn, Risa Levitt, Ancient Copper Scroll: Wild goose chase or golden ticket?, San Diego Natural History Museum, viewed 18th May 2010, http://www.sdnhm.org/description_cs.html
Image;
Department of Antiquities of Jordan Samarqand Museum Copper Scroll Display, San Diego Natural History Museum, viewed 18th May 2010, http://www.sdnhm.org/description_cs.html
Department of Antiquities of Jordan.
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