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The Dead Sea Scrolls JUDS 1611/RELS 1150 CRN: 16534

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The Dead Sea Scrolls JUDS 1611/RELS 1150 CRN: 16534 The Dead Sea Scrolls JUDS 1611/RELS 1150 CRN: 16534 The Dead Sea scrolls have been rightly celebrated as changing our fundamental understanding of ancient Jewish and Christian history as well as the Bible. But what is in them, and why do they matter? In this course we will read through the most important scrolls in English translation and cover topics such as: authorship; historical context; religious practice; and scripture and its interpretation. The course will develop skills in analytical writing, close reading, and historical reasoning. This is a WRIT designated course. Instructor Professor Michael Satlow, Religious Studies and Judaic Studies. Office: 163 George St. Email: [email protected]. Phone: (401) 863-3911. My office hours are Monday 10-11:30 and by appointment. I will occasionally announce additional hours. At times these will be online or offsite (usually the Blue Room) office hours. Resources Please purchase the following two books, available at the Brown Bookstore: 1. M. Wise, et al., The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation (revised edition) (abbreviated below as Wise) 2. J. VanderKam and P. Flint, The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls (abbreviated below as V-F) Other readings available through our course reserve are marked with an asterisk (*). Our OCRA password is scrolls. We will be using Canvas. Requirements 1. Attendance and participation (10% of grade). 2. Online responses. You will have seven opportunities to write these responses in a forum on Canvas. You may miss one without penalty. They are due by 5 PM on the Sunday following the assigned week (e.g., the assignment for Week 3 is actually due on September 29), and will generally be short written responses to one or more prompts that I will suggest (30% of grade). 3. Wikipedia Group project and presentation. You will be given a choice of short Wikipedia entries related to the scrolls to revise or create. Your group will do the research, make the changes, and present to the class on what you did. Detailed instructions will be provided in Week 3 (30% of grade). 1 4. Facebook. We will have a Facebook group in order to help us share information, relevant news and links, and otherwise build an intellectual community (extra credit for active participation!). 5. Final paper. This is an 8-12 page treatment of some aspect relating to the scrolls. You will present on it during the last week of class. It is due on Monday, December 16, at 5 PM (submitted through Canvas). There will be an optional and subsidized visit to the Dead Sea scrolls at the Museum of Science in Boston. This will take place on a Sunday in September or October. I will provide more details early in the semester. Schedule Week 1 (Sept. 9, 11, 13): Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls We begin with the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls, the controversy surrounding their publication, and their present state. Reading: V-F, 3-19, 34-54, 381-403 Assignment: None Week 2 (16, 18, 20): Historical Background The historical context in which the Dead Sea scrolls were written. Who were the Essenes, and what do they have to do with the scrolls? Readings: Draft chapters from How the Bible Became Holy*; Josephus, Jewish War 2.119-166* Assignment: None Week 3 (23, 25, 27): Foundational Texts (1 Enoch; Jubilees; Temple Scroll) The sect that wrote the Dead Sea scrolls found these three prior texts particularly important. Readings: V-F, 194-199, 211-212; 1 Enoch 1-5 and 90:6-42*; Jubilees*; Temple Scroll (in Wise) Assignment: Online response Week 4 (Sept. 30, Oct. 2, 4): Rules One of the most distinctive features of the sect is their organization and rules. We possess two largely complete rule books. Readings: V-F, 215-221; Wise: Damascus Document; “Charter of a Jewish Sectarian Association” (1QS); “A Record of Disciplinary Action” (4Q477) Assignment: Online response Week 5 (7, 9, 11): Laws One of the primary reasons that the sect formed was over matters of Jewish ritual law with which they disagreed, presumably with the authorities in the Jerusalem temple Readings: V-F, 212-215; Wise: “A Sectarian Manifesto” (4QMMT); “A Commentary on the Law of Moses” (4Q251); “Ritual Purity Laws Concerning Liquids” (4Q274): “Ashes of the Red Heifer” (4Q276-277); Calendars (texts to be announced) 2 Assignment: None Week 6 (16, 18): Presentations of Wikipedia projects Week 7 (21, 23, 25): Eschatology and Apocalypticism Over time, the sect developed a distinctive eschatology that shares many features with that found in the New Testament and other early Christian literature. Readings: V-F, 255-274; “War Scroll” (1QM); “Charter for Israel in the Last Days” (1QSa); “Vision of the New Jerusalem” (1Q32 and others); “A Collection of Messianic Proof Texts” (4Q175); “War of the Messiah” (4Q285, 11Q14); “The Two Ways” (4Q273); “Song of the Sage” (4Q510-511) Assignment: Online response Week 8 (28, 30, November 1): Scripture and Interpretation Many manuscripts of books that are presently part of the Hebrew Bible were found at Qumran, and they provide insights into the development of the Bible’s authority and text. The sect valued these texts and sought to find in them insight into the future. Readings: V-F, 87-181, 221-232; Wise: “A Commentary on Habakkuk” (1QpHab); “A Commentary on Isaiah” (4Q4Q161-165); “A Commentary on Hosea” (4Q166-167); “A Commentary on Nahum” (4Q169); “Commentaries on Psalms” (4Q171, and others) Assignment: Online response Week 9 (4, 6, 8): Wisdom and Mysteries For Jews throughout the second temple period, revelation was not the only source of ultimate knowledge. Some scrolls are part of an old tradition that locates knowledge in “wisdom.” Readings: V-F, 236-237; Wise: “Book of Secrets” (1Q27 and others); “The Secret of the Way Things Are” (4Q410 and others); “Wiles of the Wicked Woman” (4Q184); “In Praise of Wisdom (4Q185); “Apocryphal Psalms of David” (11Q5-6, and others) Assignment: Online response Week 10 (11, 13, 15): Liturgy The Dead Sea scrolls contain several liturgical and ritual texts. These texts throw light on both the religious understanding of the community and the development of later Jewish and Christian liturgy. Readings: V-F, 232-236; Wise: “Thanksgiving Psalms” (1QH); “A Liturgy of Blessing and Cursing” (4Q280 and others); “Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice” (4Q400-407); “A Liturgy of Thanksgiving” (4Q502); “Daily Prayers” (4Q503) Assignment: Online response Week 11 (18, 20, 22): “Parabiblical” Literature The Dead Sea scrolls raise a number of questions about the authority of texts and how one designates texts (such as the earlier Temple Scroll) that appear to “rewrite” older texts. Readings: Wise: “Tales of the Patriarchs” (1QapGen); “A Reworking of Genesis and Exodus” (4Q158); “The Words of Levi” (1Q21 and others); “A Paraphrase of Genesis and Exodus” 3 (4Q225); “The Healing of King Nabonidus” (4Q242); “The Vision of Daniel” (4Q243 and others); “The Coming of Melchizedek” (11Q13) Assignment: Online response Week 12 (25, 27): The Dead Sea Scrolls, Judaism, and Christianity Readings: V-F, 311-378 Week 13 (December 2, 4, 6): Final Presentations 4 .
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