Where are the Dead Sea Scrolls currently displayed/stored and who if anyone uses them?

The Shrine of the Book

Where are the Dead Sea Scrolls currently displayed/stored?

Currently the first seven (and most complete) scrolls are on display at the 'Shrine of the Book' at the Israel Museum.

These include:

• The Books of Isaiah and Psalms


• The Community Rule


• The Thanksgiving


• The Pesher Habakkuk and


• The Temple Scroll.

The Shrine of the Book was built as a repository to house these seven scrolls and was designed by two American Jewish architects, Armand P Bartos and Frederic L Kiesler.

It was dedicated on April 20th 1965 and is located next to the Israeli Parliament and the Jewish National and University Library.

Its design incorporates features related to the discovery of the scrolls and the information contained within them.

It is an eye catching white dome which sits atop the building which is two-thirds underground. this is said to represent the jars in which the scrolls we found. Entry to the Shrine is via a corridor which resembles a cave representing where the scrolls were found.

The black basalt wall opposite the Shrine represents the opposing beliefs of the 'Sons of Light' and 'The Sons of Darkness'

Other fragments of the scrolls are stored at the Rockerfeller Museum (located outside the City Wall near Herod's Gate) and at the Israel Antiquities Conservation Department.

The scrolls are also regularly displayed outside of Israel and were in Australia in 2000/2001 where they were displayed at the Gallery of New South Wales and at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.

When the scrolls travel they are displayed for a period of no longer than six months. They are then returned to Israel and stored in the dark for six months before being put on display again.

The Israel Museum Jerusalem website has virtual tours of the Shrine of the book and a model of the Second Temple which are well worth a look. I am unable to attach the actual tours but have included the link to the website: http://www.english.imjnet.org.il/htmls/home.aspx

The Dead Sea Scrolls Conservation and Preservation.

Unfortunately when the Dead Sea Scrolls were first discovered little thought was given to their ongoing preservation. Whilst the environment of the caves in which they were found had managed to preserve them for over 2000 years (the constant arid conditions of the Dead Sea area was in sharp contrast to the heat of Jerusalem), the first humans to handle them did so with little concern for their ongoing preservation in their haste to discover what was contained in the scrolls. Attempts were made to join the fragments of the scrolls using adhesive tape which added to the deterioration of the scrolls.

In 1991 the Israel Antiquities Conservation Department asked for help from the worlds leading conservation and preservation experts as to the best procedures to follow for the continued preservation of the scrolls. This lead to the establishment of a specialised conservation laboratory solely concerned with Dead Sea Scroll preservation.

Most of the scrolls had been photographed during the 1950's after their discovery, however since that time a number of the fragments had deteriorated considerably. In August 2008 it was announced that a pilot program developed by NASA would be used to digitise the scrolls in an effort to preserve them with the long term goal being to create a unique Internet data bank that would be easily accessible.

The program involves using colour and infrared photography on advanced digital cameras. It is hoped that the infrared techniques would allow blackened and erased scrolls to be readable once again.

We can only hope that this program will be successful as to lose such valuable material due to irresponsible handling would be a tragic out come for the scrolls and for future generations.

References:

Websites;

Dead Sea Scrolls Digitisation on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary, Friends of the Israel Antiquities Authority, viewed on 20th May 2010, http://www.archaelogy.org.il/newsticker

Dead Sea Scrolls go digital, 2008, Independent Media Review Analysis, viewed 20th May 2010, http://www.imra.org/story.php3?.id=40474

The Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, http://www.english.imjnet.org.il/htmls/Book.aspx

Image;

The Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, viewed 20th May 2010, http://www.english.imjnet.org.il/htmls/Book.aspx