science

Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?

Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? rather than just read about it. In short: Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? The Search for the Secret Of Qumran is a book by Norman Golb on the origins of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

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Reference excerpt

Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? The Search for the Secret Of Qumran is a book by Norman Golb on the origins of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It takes the stance that the scrolls were not the work of the Essenes (or a group similar to the Essenes) living in the Qumran area, as most scholars think, but were rather written in Jerusalem. Golb hypothesizes the scrolls were moved to Qumran in anticipation of the Roman siege in 70 AD. In Golb's conception, the Scrolls thus represent more the eclectic "mainstream" of Jewish thought, rather than being the work of a splinter group living in the desert and in opposition to the Second Temple hierarchy.

Summary

Contents Part I - A new Theory of Scroll Origins The Qumran Plateau The Manuscripts of the Jews 1947; The First Scroll Discoveries The Qumran-Essene Theory: A paradigm reconsidered The Copper Scroll, the Masada manuscripts, and the Siege of Jerusalem Scroll origins: Rengstorf's Theory and Edmund Wilson's response Part II - Science, Politics, and the Dead Sea Scrolls The Temple Scroll, the Acts of Torah, and the Qumranologists' dilemma Power Politics and the Collapse of the Scrolls Monopoly Myth and Science in the World of Qumranology The deepening Scrolls Controversy The New York Conference and Some Academic Intrigues The importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Reception

Reviews Writing in Church History, Gregory T. Armstrong wrote that "This book is 'must reading' for every historian regardless of her or his period of specialization. It demonstrates how a particular interpretation of an ancient site and particular readings of ancient documents became a straitjacket for subsequent discussion of what is arguably the most widely publicized set of discoveries in the history of biblical archaeology. Reviewing the British edition of the work, Daniel O'Hara wrote that Golb "gives us much more than just a fresh and convincing interpretation of the origin and significance of the Qumran Scrolls. His book is also — among other things — a fascinating case-study of how an idee fixe, for which there is no real historical justification, has for over 40 years dominated an elite coterie of scholars controlling the Scrolls, who have not only sought to restrict access to those who are prepared to toe their party-line, but have abused and rubbished those 'heretics' who have attempted to place a different interpretation on them." Publishers Weekly refers to this book as disputing the conventional wisdom that Dead Sea Scrolls related to the communal sect of the Essenes, and that their presumed monastery is actually a Jewish fortress. It also refers to Golb's belief that the "scrolls and related fragmentary manuscripts embody a wide spectrum of doctrines, genres and themes, from a Hebrew hymn by a Jewish nationalist poet to an apocalyptic brotherhood initiation to an inventory of documents stashed away in the Judaean wilderness" A seminar on the Scrolls dated July 14, 2000, hosted by Australia's ABC Radio National's host Rachael Kohn with Dead Sea Scrolls scholars Geza Vermes, Lawrence Schiffman and Emanuel Tov, refers to this book as "An important dissenting opinion: Golb refuses to accept the 'consensus view' that Qumran was the site of the Essenes sect, and that they owned and wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, but instead argues that Qumran was a fortress like others in the area and that the library of scrolls was from the Jerusalem Temple." (The book, however, at pp. 159–60, specifically rejects the idea that the scrolls came from the Jerusalem Temple, attributing this theory to Karl Rengstorf and asserting that Rengstorf had failed to "conceive of other libraries in Jerusalem whose owners could equally well have hidden away their contents.") Craig W. Beard, of the University of Alabama Library, writes in its review that appeared in Library Journal that "Contrary to scholarly consensus, Golb contends that, rather than being the product of sectarian scribes, the Dead Sea Scrolls were the work of individuals from many diverse groups and that they were deposited in the caves near the Dead Sea (among other locations) by Jews fleeing the Roman army during the First Revolt" and that although the book is based in historical, archaeological, and paleographical evidence, "he also lets readers in on his personal efforts to question and oppose the scholarly status quo, leaving the impression of being self-serving." Ilene Cooper from Booklist suggest that public libraries carry this book for "its provocative assertions."

Citations Géza Vermes, wrote in his An Introduction to the Complete Dead Sea Scrolls (2000), that Golb is responsible for "another forceful attack on the common view," an attack which Golb has furthered in several papers since 1980, and which culminated in his book. Vermes asserts that the target of Golb's criticism is the provenance of the manuscripts found at Qumran, his hypothesis being that the manuscripts originated in a Jerusalem library or libraries which were concealed in caves when the capital was besieged by the Romans, and that these manuscripts have nothing to do with Qumran, or with the Essenes. David Fiensy (2007) cites Golb's book for "the view that the scrolls represent Judaism in general and not a sect", citing A. Dupont-Somer, N. Avigad and E. L. Sukenik, F. M. Cross, D. Flusser, H. Stegemann, G. Vermes, J. Fitzmyer, J.C. VaderKam, Edrdmans, F. G. Martinez, J. H. Charlesworth, and C. M. Murphy for the view that the Qumran sectarian where Essenes, and Schiffman for the view that the scrolls were written by Sadducees. William Edward Arnal and Michel Robert Desjardins in their Whose Historical Jesus? (1997) cites the book while comparing the different hypotheses on the "Qumranites", citing other scholars such as James H. Charlesworth (Jesus and the Dead Scrolls, 203) who judges that the Qumranites were one of the Essenes groups, and Hartmut Stegemann. "Qumran und das Judentum zur Zeit Jesu" 84 (1994): 175-94 as basing "his support of the Essene hypothesis of factors of hierarch, initiation rites, community of goods, ritual baths, a common meal and views on marriage as well as calendar." They then refer to the alternative estimate of Golb, "that the scrolls came from Jerusalem to a fortress in Qumran during the siege of Jerusalem around 70 CE

Publication history US editions

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Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?

In research: Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1995 non-fiction books, 20th-century history books, Authorship debates, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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Frequently asked questions

What is Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? in simple terms?

Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? The Search for the Secret Of Qumran is a book by Norman Golb on the origins of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Why does Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls??

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

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