November 2016 Twenty-Second Issue

November 2016 Twenty-Second Issue

האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים The Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature מרכז אוריון לחקר מגילות מדבר יהודה והספרות הקרובה להן November 2016 Twenty-Second Issue Letter from the Director Looking Towards 70: On Seventy Years of Scrolls Dear Friends and Colleagues, Discovery and Research 2017 will usher in the seventieth anniversary of the initial discov- 2016 has been a banner year for the Orion Center. The ery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. That year, the first seven scrolls from Fifteenth International Symposium, held in conjunction with what became known as Qumran Cave 1—the two Isaiah scrolls, the University of Vienna Institute for Jewish Studies and the the Pesher on Habakkuk, the War Scroll, the Genesis Apoc- Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies, set a new benchmark ryphon, the Thanksgiving Hymns, and the Community Rule— for our collaboration with other academic institutions, as well came to light, discovered by Bedouin tribesmen. In the subse- as for the breadth and depth of coverage of the symposium quent decade, hundreds more scroll fragments were unearthed, topic: “The Texts of the Bible from the Dead Sea Scrolls to some in systematic excavations, some through less certain means. the Biblical Manuscripts of the Vienna Papyrus Collection.” Those seven scrolls were published over the course of the Exciting new discoveries and publications were unveiled, 1950s. In 1955, the first volume of the series Discoveries in the among them: virtual images of the charred Ein Gedi Leviti- Judaean Desert featured the additional fragmentary manuscripts cus Scroll; an armband amulet inscribed with a Byzantine that had been discovered in Cave 1. The texts from the “minor Greek translation of the rabbinic Shema; medieval Masoretic caves”—Caves 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 10—were published in 1962, in manuscripts from the Vienna Papyrus Collection; and the DJD 3 and 3a. However, the myriad fragmentary texts from Cave first volume of Brill’s new Textual History of the Bible, edit- 4 were slower to emerge. The controversy over the publication ed by Armin Lange and Emanuel Tov. history of the scrolls is well known; what is important is that by The Austrian Ambassador to Israel, His Excellency 2002, the bulk of the texts in the collection of the Israel Antiqui- Martin Weiss, opened the symposium with a moving address ties Authority had either been published or were being readied for expressing the personal, international, and historic im- publication. The last volume in the DJD series, on the Cave 1 portance of the Vienna–Jerusalem cooperation. The Sympo- Isaiah scrolls, came out in 2010; the Cave 3 Copper Scroll, held sium was the third conference organized under the coopera- by Jordan, was published separately in 2006. tion agreement between the Hebrew University and the Uni- The years since those first discoveries have seen great ad- versity of Vienna, and the first held in Jerusalem. The four- vances in both analytical technology (radiocarbon dating, DNA day event was made possible through the ongoing, generous testing, etc.) and imaging technology. With the help of special support of the Hebrew University and the Orion Foundation, digital imaging techniques, it is now possible to examine the as well as by special, significant grants from the three co- manuscripts in ways not to be thought of before the 1990s. Both sponsoring institutions, the Federal Ministry for Europe Inte- the Israel Museum (http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/) and the Israel gration and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Austria, and Antiquities Authority (http://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/home) the Sir Zelman Cowen Universities Fund. have made the scrolls digitally accessible to the scholarly and the Looking ahead, we have a rich program of scholars’ general public, in new online initiatives. These online databases seminars on this year’s academic calendar; in addition, an make it possible for anyone to see and read the scrolls “up close”; Orion-sponsored plenary session at the World Congress of in addition, they allow scholars to utilize the new, enhanced im- Jewish Studies, featuring Profs. Emanuel Tov, Devorah Di- ages in their own work, to check accepted readings of texts and mant, Michael Segal, and Esther Eshel, will mark the seven- perhaps to discover new ones. tieth anniversary of the discovery of the scrolls (see facing An interesting recent development in scrolls studies is the column). And, as befits such an anniversary year, the Orion publication, just a few months ago, of two volumes of scrolls website will undergo a major renovation! materials that have come to light since 2002 (see articles p. 3). To close, I wish to thank our inspiring colleagues, Scrolls discoveries are never free of controversy, and these are no the Orion Academic Committee, and our dedicated staff: exception; the new publications promise to spark a wealth of Administrative Manager, Ariella Amir; Webmaster, scholarly debate in the coming year. Yael Bezalel-Eliahoo; Head of Orion Publications, Dr. In Jerusalem, two special programs will mark this anniversary: Ruth Clements, and the student research assistants and The Orion Center is planning a plenary session, “Seventy interns from the Rothberg International School who Years since the Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Biblical and work under Dr. Clements’s capable direction. Parabiblical Texts in Light of the Scrolls,” for the Seventeenth Best wishes to all for a fruitful and peaceful year, World Congress of Jewish Studies, to be held August 6–10 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (see Calendar, p. 4). Esther Chazon The Israel Museum will mount two new exhibitions, opening The Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea at the end of May. A special display on the Genesis Apocryphon, Scrolls and Associated Literature which has not been shown since the late 1960’s, is to be installed Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies in the Museum’s main exhibit hall. The Dorot Information and Rabin World Center of Jewish Studies Study Center in the Shrine of the Book will house an exhibit de- The Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus voted to the discovery and history of the four scrolls originally Jerusalem 91905 Israel acquired in 1947 by Metropolitan Mar Athanasius Samuel, Tel: 972–2–588–1966 Fax: 972–2–588–3584 Archbishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Jerusalem. E-mail: [email protected] We will post updates as information becomes available. Stay Website: http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il tuned to the Orion website—and keep us in the know! 1 Center News The 2015–2016 academic year featured both exceptional aca- postdoctoral fellow Shira Golani, who divided her time be- demic seminars by individuals and the dynamic meeting of tween Orion and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Bel- scholarly minds that constituted the Fifteenth International gium). This year, Michael Brooks Johnson, from McMaster Orion Symposium (see accompanying article). Prof. Menahem University’s Department of Religious Studies, was selected as Kister led off the fall semester with a seminar on connections the Orion Matlow scholar; he is researching the genres of the between Qumran, Jubilees, and 2 Cor 6:14–7:1. Matlow psalms in 1QHodayot. In addition, Orion scholarships were scholar Simcha Gross continued with a multifaceted reevalua- awarded to Amanda Michelle Davis Bledsoe, of the Ludwig- tion of the potential connections between early Judaism and Maximilians University of Munich’s Jewish Studies Depart- Syriac Christianity. In a research seminar cosponsored with the ment, who is finishing a doctorate on Danielic traditions at Israel Antiquities Authority, former Orion bibliography re- Qumran; and Oded Essner, an M.A. student in Tel-Aviv Uni- searcher Oren Ableman, who currently serves as research as- versity’s Department of Hebrew Culture, who is studying the sociate for the IAA’s Leon Levy Digital DSS Library, gave a Song of Songs manuscripts from Qumran. We look forward to fascinating rundown of some of the yet unpublished scroll welcoming them and hearing about their research. fragments that have emerged as a consequence of his work Michal Drori-Elmalem, Orion bibliography researcher, has with the IAA. And Dr. Shira Golani completed the seminar left us to concentrate on her studies; her post has been ably filled series with a lecture on the literary function of scribal lists in by Shiran Shevach, an MA student in the Department of Bible. the Dead Sea scrolls. Interns: Once again, the Rothberg International School sent Dr. Dwight Swanson, of Nazarene Theological College us a number of great student interns: Rob Brier (Australia); and the University of Manchester, returned to Orion in Janu- Amanda Brown (Utah); Sharlin Decorato (Sicily and Venezue- ary through March as a visiting scholar, to work on a volume la); Antony Hylton (Kenya and London); and UnSung Kwak of studies on the biblical Qumran scrolls. We were delighted (South Korea). All made great strides this past year in helping to welcome him back and are looking forward to adding the us continue to add older publications to the Bibliography book to the bibliography. Search. Thanks for all your good work! We look forward to Orion Scholarship Recipients: Last year’s Matlow scholar working again with Amanda and Sharlin in the coming year. was Simcha Gross from Yale University; we also hosted Orion The Fifteenth International Orion Symposium The Texts of the Bible from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Biblical Manuscripts of the Vienna Papyrus Collection The most recent Orion Symposium, “The Texts of the Bible through its diverse locations the interdisciplinary and intercul- from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Biblical Manuscripts of the tural scholarly dialogue that the meeting was intended to foster. Vienna Papyrus Collection” (April 10–13, 2016) constituted a The First International Symposium of the Orion Center historic conjunction of academic disciplines, institutions, and (1996) focused on the early use and interpretation of the Bible cultures.

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