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METHODS of INVESTIGATION .OF the DEAD SEA SCROLLS and the KHIRBET QUMRAN SITE: a CONFERENCE REPORT by Michael O

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METHODS of INVESTIGATION .OF the DEAD SEA SCROLLS and the KHIRBET QUMRAN SITE: a CONFERENCE REPORT by Michael O THE oi.uchicago.edu ORIENTAL I NEWS & NOTES NO . 137 SPRING 1993 ©THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO METHODS OF INVESTIGATION .OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS AND THE KHIRBET QUMRAN SITE: A CONFERENCE REPORT By Michael O. Wise, Assistant Professor, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations The New York Academy of Sciences tions), and Michael Wise (Department case. Three papers, delivered by AI and the Oriental Institute co-sponsored a of Near Eastern Languages and Civiliza­ Wolters, P. Kyle McCarter and Peter conference on the Dead Sea Scrolls, tions), the actual organizers of the Muchowski, focused on the Copper "Methods of Investigation of the Dead conference. William Sumner, Director of Scroll, a Qumran "treasure map" Sea Scrolls and the Khirbet Qumran the Oriental Institute, delivered the inscribed on metal. Describing places in Site: Present Realities and Future opening remarks in which he empha­ the Judaean Wilderness where various Prospects," held at the Murray Sargent sized the significance of a conference on treasures as well as scrolls were buried, Auditorium of the New York Blood the Dead Sea Scrolls that was sponsored it is a text of great importance for an Center from December 14 through 17. by organizations of a scientific nature. understanding of the nature of the scroll Numerous participants, including thirty cache, but its study has been unfortu­ This was the first major international speakers from a dozen nations, met for nately neglected. meeting devoted to the Dead Sea Scrolls <our days of papers and discussions. The since full scholarly access to all related James Charlesworth brought new University of Chicago was represented materials became the rule late in 1991. It insights to the study of the Discipline by John J. Collins (Divinity School), was hoped that many new texts, as well Scroll, one of the first texts discovered at Norman Golb and Dennis G. Pardee as some that were already available, QUIllian. Sidnie White read a paper (Oriental Institute and Department of would be analyzed. This was indeed the about a text that expands on some of the Near Eastern Languages and Civiliza- continued Oil page 2 4,300 YEAR OLD FIGURINE FOUND AT TELL ES-SWEYHAT A clay figurine unearthed at the Oriental Institute/University of Pennsylvania excavations at Tell es­ Sweyhat in September 1992 is thought to be the oldest known figurine of a domesticated horse. Oriental Institute archaeologist Thomas Holland, who led the excava­ tion, gives a probable date of 2,300 B.C. for the figurine, about 500 years earlier than domestic horses were thought to have existed in the Near East. The early date means that the range of movement of early peoples was greater than originally thought, and thus opened up more contact with other cultures. continued on page J5 oi.uchicago.edu laws of the Pentateuch and its use of libraries in Roman Palestine, an issue of Another hotly debated aspect of extra-biblical materials. Michael Knibb some importance for understanding the methodology involving the scrolls was and Samuellwry spoke on the Dam­ nature of the Qumran repository. James th e radiocarbon dating of the texts: the ascus Document, a text which speaks of VanderKam spoke on problems of the accuracy of the results achieved by this the migration of a group of Jews to so-called "Qumran calendar" figuring in method were scrutinized and by some Damascus. Many scholars claim that many of the scrolls. (This calendar was participants questioned. It was also "Damascus" should be taken as a based on a 364-day solar year, unlike debated whether or not the results of metaphor for Qumran, and this was the the rabbinic calendar, which was based radiocarbon dating supp0l1 the dating of central issue of debate in both papers. on observation of the moon.) Peter Flint texts by paleographic analysis, in which Torlief Elgvin delivered a paper on new outlined a method for analyzing textual dates are assigned to texts on the basis "wisdom"-type texts, similar in style to relationships between manuscripts. All of the way their letters are fonned. The the biblical book of Proverbs. Moshe these papers promise to advance catalyst for this debate was a paper by Bernstein considered methods in which scholarship in the field of Qumranology. Willy Woelfli and associates of the biblical texts are cited in the Qumran Federal Institute of Technology of One unique aspect of the conference biblical commentaries. Zurich, Switzerland, which reported on was its conscious effOlt to focus on the date of about a dozen scroll s varying approaches to the study of the ascertained by the radiocarbon method. scrolls. Qumran studies have sometimes Morris Shamos, who presented the paper been characterized by a lack of scientific on behalf of the Zurich team, indicated rigor. In this conference, participants that carbon 14 dating can only help to were able to assess the suitability of past establish the date of texts detennined by methods, and to consider prospects for a study of their paleography within new methods and technologies that have approximately a century. No consensus recently been brought to bear on the emerged during the lengthy discussion mysteries of the scrolls. The meeting th at fo llowed thi s paper, but the issues was further conceived as an opportunity were clearly defined and that in itself for scholars who hold conflicting views should prove helpful to Qumran re­ of the nature and origins of the scrolls to searchers. Other sc ientific endeavors­ debate one another in frank, face-to-face on imaging techniques that are increas­ exchanges. The discussions frequently ingly aiding scholars in the deciphennent became quite animated as scholars of hard-to-read Qumran fragments­ debated such issues as the identity or - were reported on by Robert Johnson. even the existence of the "sect" and the use of the scrolls for reconstructing One of the more fructifying aspects of Jewish history. the conference was that it brought Map of Dead Sea sites together scholars who study the texts Other papers considered cun-ently pressing issues in Qumran studies. A paper by Eileen Schuller, "Women at Qumran," introduced feminist analysis to the field of scrolls research. Papers by Joseph Fitzmyer and John Collins helped to define methodological problems involved with th e concept of "messiah"; Matthias Klinghardt and Ferdinand Dexinger emphasized the need to understand Qumran texts in the broader cultural environment, both Jewish and Greco-Roman; George Brooke, Hartmut Stegemann, Michael Wise, and Philip Callaway considered hi storical method­ ology and the scroll s. They emphasized the need for a more rigorous method than has previously been employed in historical analysis of th e Qumran texts. Yacov Shavit spoke on books and View of Khirbet Qumran escarpment from the west 2 oi.uchicago.edu with archaeologists who have dealt with cal component of the conference was organizers of the conference, who Qumran and other sites of Roman that previously accepted interpretations played an integral part in the two years Palestine. In the process it became clear of the archaeological data are being of planning and preparation, but that the archaeology of Qumran is no challenged anew, fueled in part by new tragically did not live to attend the less controversial a subject than are the evidence. It was clear from the discus­ conference itself. texts. It has been widely held that the sion that the archaeology of Qumran is CONFERENCE SPEAKERS: ruins of Khirbet Qumran are all that going to be a lively topic of debate in the Prof. Moshe Bernstein (New York, NY) remain of the home of the Essenes, the future. Dr. George Brooke (Manchester, U.K.) monastic sect claimed to have written Dr. Philip Callaway (Jonesboro, GA) and hidden the Dead Sea Scrolls. This Prof. James Charlesworth (Princeton, NJ) idea was popularized by Roland de Prof. John Collins (Chicago, IL) Vaux, the original excavator of Khirbet Prof. Ferdinand Dexinger (Vienna, Austria) Qumran. De Vaux claimed that the Prof. Pauline Donceel (Louvain, Belgium) artifacts of the site were roughly­ Prof. Robert Eisenman (Long Beach, CA) produced utilitarian pieces, befitting the Mr. Torlief Elgvin (Jerusalem, Israel) ascetic Essenes whom he believed Prof. Joseph Fitzmyer, S.J. (Washington, D.C.) occupied the site. Now, for the flfst time, Mr. Peter W. Flint (Notre Dame, IN) those attending the meetings heard from Prof. Norman Golb (Chicago, IL) Pauline Donceel-Voute a description of Prof. Samuel Iwry (Baltimore, MD) the work being done by her and her (From Left) Dennis Pardee, Michael Dr. Robert Johnson (Rochester, NY) husband, Robert Donceel, in continua­ Wise, Norman Golb, and John Collins Dr. Zdzislaw Kapera (Cracow, Poland) tion and conclusion of Father de Vaux's Dr. Matthias Klinghardt (Augsburg, A variety of views were expressed at the excavation of the site. De Vaux had Germany) conference on the question of the origin collected a great amount of artifactual Prof. Michael Knibb (London, U.K.) of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Several Prof. P. Kyle McCarter (Baltimore, MD) material at the site but did not live long scholars advocated the well-known Prof. Jodi Magness (Medford, MA) enough to publish the bulk of it. Most Essene hypothesis, while others, notable Mr. Peter Muchowski (Poznan, Poland) scholars were surprised-and a few among them Lawrence Schiffman, Dr. Joseph Patrich (Haifa, Israel) even upset-that the Donceels question argued that the scrolls were produced by Prof. Lawrence Schiffman (New York, NY) many of de Vaux's views. The Donceels a group related to the Sadducees, a Prof. Eileen Schuller (Halifax, N.S.) claim that many of the artifacts of Prof. Morris Shamos (New York, NY) on Jewish sect closely connected to the Khirbet Qumran represent high-quality behalf of Dr.
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