By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO, Calif — The 24 Dead Sea Scrolls that will be exhibited over
the last six months of 2007 at San Diego's Natural History Museum are the
center pieces of the blockbuster exhibition that synagogues, churches and
various other religious and lay groups are queuing up to buy timed-entrance
tickets for. But they are only a portion of a display that will trace
how the religious heritage of Israel has been transmitted over time through
Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
And, in conjunction with the exhibit, the Natural History Museum has been
recruiting the top scholars in the world on the Dead Sea Scrolls to offer a
series of lectures that will spaced over the six-month time frame of the
most important exhibition in the Natural History Museum's history.
"The Museum has developed a theme for the exhibition of tracing the story
of the transmission of the ancient biblical scrolls to our present day,"
Michael Hager, the museum's executive director, said in an e-mail
interview.
Besides the Dead Sea Scrolls, visitors will see "scrolls from the
Jordanian Department of Antiquities and ancient illuminated biblical
manuscripts from the Russian National Library and the British National
Library," he said.
"In addition, the exhibition will feature ancient artifacts, original
archaeological excavation equipment, landscape and aerial photography of
Israel and Jordan, and interactive displays about the discovery and science of
the scrolls; a bilingual audio tour interpreting the significance of the
artifacts and a computer-graphic virtual-reality tour of Qumran developed by
the UCLA visual imaging lab.
"There are five Mediterranean climates of the world and Israel and
southern California are two of them," Hager said. He noted that San Diego
and Imperial Counties, like Israel, "have rift valleys below sea level
with salt seas. The similarities and differences will be explored in a
photographic display as part of the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition."
The scholars who will discuss the scrolls had an impact on which scrolls were
selected for the exhibit, Hager said.
"The scrolls were selected by a group of local scholars to highlight
pieces they worked on," he said. "The scrolls were also chosen
for their historical significance and interest."
Prof. Risa Levitt Kohn, director of the Judaic Studies program at San Diego
State University and one of the key figures in persuading the Israel
Antiquities Authority to exhibit them in the Balboa Park museum, is the
curator of the San Diego exhibit, and helped to set up the lecture series.
"Speakers were specifically selected based upon the Scrolls displayed and
Scrolls were selected which have been studied by southern California
scholars," Hager said. "Some specific Scrolls are of great
importance to particular religious groups." While the museum is now
preparing curriculum materials for the exhibit, various religious groups are
also in the process of preparing their own materials "specific to their
religious beliefs," Hager said.
He added that "many colleges and universities as well as adult education
providers are planning Dead Sea Scrolls classes outside of the Museum to
coincide with the exhibition."
Hager described a visit to the exhibit as a "once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to experience one of the most significant collections of ancient
documents and artifacts ever assembled. This exhibition was created by the
staff of the San Diego Natural History Museum, specifically for the Museum; it
will not travel to any other museum." Tickets will go on sale to
museum members on October 1 and to members of the public on December 1,
2006. The museum believes as many as a half-million visitors will
attend the exhibition, either individually or in tour groups.
Tickets have been priced according to peak hours (Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays
and holidays) and off peak hours, (Mondays through Thursdays). There are
discounts for museum members, group members, and school groups, but the basic
prices in the peak hours for adults are $28; seniors over 62, students,
military with identification cards, and youth between the ages of 13 and 17,
$24; and children 3-12, $15. Children pay the same price in the
off-peak hours, but for the other categories ticket prices are $4 less than
for peak hours. The phone number for purchasing general public tickets
after Nov. 1 is (877) 946-7797.
Tickets for lectures are offered for separate purchase. Following are a
list of lectures with short biographies of the speakers, all provided by the
San Diego Natural History Museum.
* *
Dead Sea Scrolls
Distinguished Lecture Series
All
lectures are held in the Charmaine and Maurice Kaplan Theater at 6:30 PM. If a
lecture is sold out and there is a waiting list, an additional lecture may be
added at 8:15 the same evening.
Books are available for purchase in the Alex and Elizabeth Wise Museum Store.
Price
per lecture: Member $20; Nonmembers $25.
Any six lectures: Member $108; Nonmembers $138.
Complete
lecture series: Member $330; Nonmembers $396
Monday,
July 9,
2007: The Ever-alive Dead Sea Scrolls
Shalom Paul, Ph.D.,
Professor, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; and Chairman, The
Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation
Join
us for a compelling introduction to the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls that
highlights the significance of the scrolls for the understanding of the Bible,
early Judaism, and the birth of Christianity.
Dr.
Paul, chair of the Bible Department at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, is responsible for
all of the publications of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Dr. Paul is a much
sought-after lecturer throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, with the
unique skill to make the ancient world come alive. He was editor of the Encyclopedia
Judaica’s Bible section and has written numerous articles and books on
nature and scientific exploration from a biblical perspective including The
Bible & Archaeology. Class
Code: S7-350-01
Monday,
July 16, 2007:
Archaeological
Interpretation at Qumran
Jean
Baptiste Humbert, Ph.D., Director
of Excavations and Archaeological Publications, École Biblique, Jerusalem,
Israel
This lecture introduces to the archaeological site
of Khirbet Qumran, the settlement closest to the caves where the Dead Sea
Scrolls were discovered; focusing on the communal structures at the site, the
water system, the ritual baths, and the way in which archaeologists interpret
these remains to better understand the Qumran community.
Dr. Humbert became involved in the excavations at Khirbet Qumran after the
death of its first excavator, Father Roland DeVaux, and has been in charge of
publication of the site reports and excavations at Qumran since 1988. His
publications on Qumran include; The Excavations of Khirbet Qumran
and Ain Feshkha: Synthesis of
Roland de Vaux’s Field Notes (2003) and Qumran
the Site of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Archaeological Interpretations and Debates (2006)
and has published more than 75 scholarly articles relating to the archaeology
of Israel and Jordan.
Class
Code: S7-350-02
Monday,
July 23, 2007:
The
Dead Sea Scrolls: Controversies and Theories of Early Judaism and Christianity
Eric Meyers, Ph.D.,
Bernice and Morton Lerner Professor of Judaic Studies and Director of the
Graduate Program in Religion, Duke University, North Carolina
The
discovery of the scrolls has clearly proven that the enormous library found at
Qumran 60 years ago could not have been produced without the knowledge of and
dependency on the Hebrew Bible. Also, the New Testament was dependent on both
the canonical Hebrew Bible and some literature found at Qumran. Dr. Meyers
will review this topic and suggest a better way to explore the common roots of
Judaism and Christianity.
Dr. Meyers earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University specializing in Hebrew
Bible/Old Testament, archaeology of the ancient Near East, and Jewish history
of the Greco-Roman period. Dr. Meyers has authored or co-authored nine books,
edited many others, and is published widely in the fields of Hebrew Bible,
biblical archaeology, and Second Temple Judaism. Among his publications in
Hebrew Bible are two Anchor Bible commentaries with Carol L. Meyers,
Haggai-Zechariah 1–8 (1987) and Zechariah 9–14 (1993).
He served as editor-in-chief of the five–volume work published by Oxford
University Press The Oxford Encyclopedia
of Archaeology in the Near East (1997), and is co-author of the Cambridge Companion to the Bible by Cambridge University Press,
1997. He also served as president of the American Schools of Oriental Research
from 1990–1997. Dr. Meyers has directed or co-directed digs in Israel and
Italy for more than 30 years.
Class
Code: S7-350-03
Monday,
July 30, 2007:
The
Impact of the Dead Sea Scrolls on Our Bible
Gene Ulrich,
Ph.D., John A. O'Brien Professor
of Theology, the
University of Notre Dame
The 230 biblical scrolls from Qumran are a
millennium older than previous Hebrew manuscripts. They have illumined a dark
period in the history of biblical text and revolutionized our understanding of
how the Scriptures grew from national and religious traditions to sacred
authoritative texts. Dr. Ulrich will discuss the dynamic composition of the
biblical books, the surprises offered by the biblical scrolls, and how
superior readings from the scrolls are improving modern translations of the
Bible.
Dr. Ulrich earned his Ph.L. from Loyola University. He teaches and writes in
the areas of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Septuagint.
A member of the translation teams of both the New Revised Standard Version
of the Bible and the New American Bible, he recently co-authored The
Dead Sea Scrolls Bible. Dr. Ulrich is one of the three general editors of
the Scrolls International Publication Project and chief editor of the Biblical
Scrolls. Having published five volumes of critical editions of the biblical
scrolls in Discoveries in the Judaean Desert from Oxford University
Press, he was an area editor for Oxford's Encyclopedia
of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Dr. Ulrich was given the Award Medal of the University of Helsinki in 1997 and
appointed to the Grinfield Lecturership at the University of Oxford for
1998–2000. A recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and several
grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, he was twice elected as
President of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies
and was invited as a fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies at the
Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Recently, Dr. Ulrich was elected as president of
the Catholic Biblical Association and as a fellow of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences.
Class
Code: S7-350-04
Monday,
August 6 ,
2007: Who
Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?
Russell Fuller,
Ph.D.,
Professor of Hebrew Bible,
University of San Diego
Since
the Dead Sea Scrolls first came to light in 1947 scholars have tried to
discover who wrote and collected them. There are several competing theories
ranging from the traditional idea that the scrolls were authored by the
Essenes living in intentional isolation from mainstream Jewish society in
Roman Palestine to the idea that they are simply an eclectic collection hidden
from the Romans by citizens of Jerusalem. Dr. Fuller will examine these and
other theories concerning who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Dr. Fuller is a member of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at
the University of San Diego. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University in
Hebrew Bible. Dr. Fuller is a member of the international team of editors of
the Dead Sea Scrolls. His edition of the Minor Prophets manuscripts from Cave
4 has appeared in the publication series Discoveries in the Judaean Desert.
He has recently completed a manuscript on the text and interpretation of the
Minor Prophets at Qumran.
Dr. Fuller is both a contributing editor and an associate editor for The
Oxford Hebrew Bible. He is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature
and a founding member of the Biblical Colloquium West. He
is serving as a consultant for the Dead
Sea Scrolls exhibition at the San Diego Natural History Museum.
Class
Code: S7-350-05
Monday,
August 13, 2007:
Jesus, the Dead
Sea Scrolls, and the Da Vinci Code
Peter
Flint, Ph.D.,
Professor of Biblical Studies and Director, The Dead Sea Scrolls
Institute, Trinity Western University, Langley, British Columbia, Canada
The
Dead Sea Scrolls have transformed scholarship on the New Testament. These
ancient manuscripts clearly show that many of the ideas contained in the
sacred books were actually part of Judaism in the first century BCE and not
added by later Christian generations to validate their faith. Biblical scholar
Peter Flint will explore the philosophy of Jesus in relationship to similar
concepts found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Dr. Flint received his Ph.D. in Old Testament and Second
Temple Judaism from the University of Notre Dame and is the author of numerous
studies on the Dead Sea Scrolls, including the critically acclaimed The
Dead Sea Psalms Scrolls and the Book of Psalms (E. J. Brill, 1997),
co-author of the widely-read Dead Sea Scrolls Bible (San Francisco, CA:
Harper, 1999), and editor of the major two-volume collection The Dead Sea
Scrolls After Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment (E. J. Brill,
1998–1999).
Dr. Flint serves as a general editor of one series on the Old Testament: The
Formation and Interpretation of Old Testament Literature (E. J. Brill), as
well as three series on the Dead Sea Scrolls. He has also edited over 25 Dead
Sea Scrolls for three volumes in the internationally acclaimed series Discoveries
in the Judaean Desert (Oxford University Press). Class
Code: S7-350-06
Monday,
August 20, 2007:
The
Conservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Pnina Shor, Head of the Department for the
Treatment and Conservation of Artifacts, Israel Antiquities Authority
Both
scholars and conservators have been concerned about the conservation and
preservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls ever since their discovery at the end of
the 1940s. From the time of their discovery and removal from the caves to the
establishment of the conservation laboratory of the Israel Antiquities
Authority in 1991, the scrolls were heavily damaged. Due to their extreme
brittleness, the task of conservation and preservation of the scrolls
continues to be an ongoing project using the most up-to-date conservation
methods known worldwide.
Shor serves as the Head of the Department for the
Treatment and Conservation of Artifacts for the Israel Antiquities Authority
(IAA). She studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and is trained in
both archaeology and the scientific principles of conservation. She oversees
the department at the IAA responsible for the conservation of the Dead Sea
Scrolls and has worked with the San Diego Natural History Museum to determine
the optimum environmental conditions for safe exhibition of the scrolls. Class
Code: S7-350-07
Monday,
August 27, 2007: The
War Scroll and Apocalypse
Martin Abegg,
Ph.D.,
Chair of Religious Studies Department, Trinity Western University; and
Co-director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute, Langley, British Columbia,
Canada
The scroll community had their own unique
understanding of the coming apocalypse. This presentation will highlight how
their vision of the end influenced 1st century CE Christian
thought, rabbinic musings, and our own expectations in the 21st
century.
Dr. Abegg is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies and Director of the
Master of Arts in Biblical Studies Program at Trinity Western University (TWU).
Dr. Abegg received Ph.D. from Hebrew Union University in Cincinnati, Ohio. He
is a specialist in the Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Syriac
tradition. He is co-editor of The Dead
Sea Scrolls Bible with Peter Flint and Eugene Ulrich. It is the first
publication representing all of the biblical materials from the Dead Sea
Scrolls. Class
Code: S7-350-08
Monday,
September 10,
2007: Women
in the Dead Sea Scrolls and at Qumran
Sidnie White
Crawford, Ph.D.,
Professor of Hebrew Bible and Chair
Department of Classics and Religious Studies, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
There
is the evidence of women as members of or at least participating in the Essene
movement in late Second Temple Judaism, as found in the Dead Sea Scrolls
texts, in particular the Damascus Document. Dr. Crawford will explore the
archaeological evidence, or lack of evidence, for the presence of women at the
settlement at Qumran.
Dr. Crawford received her Ph.D. from Harvard. Her areas of scholarly expertise
are in the Dead Sea Scrolls and textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible. She is
a member of the international publication team for the Dead Sea Scrolls, and
is responsible for editing 14 manuscripts from the Qumran collection. She has
written extensively on various aspects of the Dead Sea Scrolls, including the
rewritten bible texts and the role of women in the Qumran community.
She is one of the general editors of the The Oxford Hebrew Bible,
which will result in an eclectic critical edition of every book of the Hebrew
Bible. Dr. Crawford is contributing the volume on Deuteronomy for the series The
Bible at Qumran, to be published by E. J. Brill. She is President of the
W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeology in Jerusalem. Class
Code: S7-350-09
Monday,
September 17, 2007:
The
Qumran Community: The Wicked Priest and the Righteous Teacher
David Noel
Freedman, Ph.D.,
Endowed Chair in Hebrew Biblical Studies, University of California, San Diego
Central
to the story of the Dead Sea Scrolls is the eschatological conflict between
good and evil: the “Sons of Light” versus the “Sons of Darkness.” Many
of the principal figures are shrouded in mystery, bearing descriptive titles
rather than personal names. The leaders on either side are called the
“Righteous Teacher” and the “Wicked Priest.” But who are they as
historical human beings?
Dr. Freedman has made numerous outstanding and creative contributions which
illuminate and preserve a world heritage—the Hebrew Bible. As the general
editor of several distinguished series, including the Anchor Bible Series
(1956–), Eerdman’s Critical Commentaries (2000–), and The
Bible in Its World (2000–), and as the editor and author of numerous
other award-winning volumes, including the Eerdman’s Dictionary of the
Bible (2000), Freedman has produced over 330 scholarly books.
As editor of the Leningrad Codex: A Facsimile Edition (1998), Freedman
orchestrated the process by which this beautiful codex—the oldest complete
and most important extant manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in the world—became
available to the public. Class
Code: S7-350-10
Monday,
September 24, 2007:
Publishing
the Dead Sea Scrolls
Emanuel Tov, Ph.D.,
J.L. Magnes Professor of Bible, Hebrew University, Jerusalem; and
Editor-in-Chief, Dead Sea Scrolls Publication Project
Following
their initial discovery, thousands of fragile fragments of the Dead Sea
Scrolls in complete disarray were handed over to scholars; some were badly
damaged. In 1990, the Israel Antiquities Authority named Professor Emanuel Tov
the Editor-in-Chief of the International Dead Sea Scrolls publication project.
Under his leadership, the scrolls have finally been published and made
available to the public and scholars, opening a new chapter in scrolls
research.
Dr. Tov has served as a teaching fellow at Harvard University and as a guest
professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Dropsie University in
Philadelphia, as well as at the Universities of Stellenbosch (South Africa),
Macquarie (Sydney), Sydney University, the Vrije Universiteit (Amsterdam), and
Uppsala University.
In
1989–1990, together with Prof. M. Weinfeld, he convened a research group on
the Qumran scrolls at the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem. Dr. Tov has received several research awards, among
them the Warburg Award of the Hebrew University for 1969–1971, a Lady Davis
Fellowship for study at Oxford University in 1974–1975, a Wexler Fellowship
from the Penn-Israel Foundation in 1980–1981, and the Humboldt Research
Prize, Germany (1999–2004). In September 2003, he was awarded the Ubbo
Emmius Medal by the University of Groningen. Class
Code: S7-350-11
Monday,
October 1,
2007:
Manuscripts
from the Ancient Near East in the National Library of Russia
Olga Vasilyeva,
Ph.D.,
Curator of Oriental Manuscripts, Russian
National Library, St. Petersburg, Russia
The National Library of Russia houses 27,000 Oriental
manuscripts: most belong to the collection of Abraham Firkovich, a Karaite Jew
and book-collector who bought them in 1863 from the Karaite-Jewish community
in Old Cairo. The Firkovich collection contains many fragments of
Hebrew manuscripts which are over 1000 years old. Dr.Vasilyeva will discuss
some of the important manuscripts in this collection, including the oldest
complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible and the pages from the Russian
National Library on display in Dead Sea
Scrolls.
Dr. Vasilyeva is responsible for the manuscripts on display at the San Diego
Natural History Museum’s Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition. She holds advanced
degrees from the University of Sofia, Bulgaria and the Leningrad State
University. She specializes in the history of Oriental manuscripts and has
published over 60 articles, five of which are devoted to the Hebrew
Manuscripts of the Russian National Library.
Class
Code: F7-350-01
Monday,
October 8. 2007: The
Modern History and Importance of the Dead Sea Psalms Scroll
James Sanders,
Ph.D.,
Professor Emeritus of the Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, California;
and Founder of the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center
Qumran
Cave 11, the last cave discovered, produced a number of surprises that have
caused review of some of the earlier “assured results” of scientific
biblical study. Review the drama of discovery and unrolling of the Psalms
Scroll and then take a look at what the Dead Sea Scrolls in general have done
to change our understanding of some of the basics of biblical studies. Dr. Sanders
was the first scholar to unroll and study the Psalms Scroll in the 1960s.
Dr. Sanders was the Elizabeth Hay Bechtel Professor of Intertestamental and
Biblical Studies at the School of Theology, Claremont, and Professor of
Religion at Claremont Graduate School. Dr. Sanders is past president of the
Society of Biblical Literature, a member of Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas,
the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, the
International Organization for Targumic and Cognate Studies, and other
scholarly societies.
He is the only American member of the United Bible Society’s Hebrew Old
Testament Text Critical Project. His book, Torah and Canon, launched in
1972 a new subdiscipline of biblical study called Canonical Criticism. Class
Code: F7-350-02
Monday,
October 15 , 2007: Israel
at the Time of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Lawrence Schiffman,
Ph.D.,
Edelman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies and Chair of the Skirball
Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University
The
Second Temple period was a momentous era in ancient Israel, beginning with the
conquest by Alexander the Great that expanded the rise of Hellenism and the
great Jewish religious movements. Dr. Schiffman will survey these developments
and their significance in providing background for the Dead Sea Scrolls, and
explain how the scrolls have enriched the understanding of the history of this
period.
Dr. Schiffman received his Ph.D. in Near Eastern and Judaic studies from
Brandeis University. His major interests include the Dead Sea Scrolls; Jewish
religious, political, and social history in late antiquity; and the history of
Jewish law and Talmudic literature.
His publications include Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls (Philadelphia,
PA: Jewish Publication Society, 1994); From Text to Tradition: A History of
Judaism in Second Temple and Rabbinic Times
(Hoboken, NJ: Ktav, 1989); Who Was a Jew? Rabbinic and Halakhic
Perspectives on the Jewish-Christian Schism
(Hoboken, NJ: Ktav, 1985); and Sectarian Law in the Dead Sea
Scrolls, Courts, Testimony, and the Penal Code
(California: Scholars Press, 1983).
Dr. Schiffman’s affiliations include the editorial team of Dead Sea
Scrolls; Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, NYU; Columbia
University Seminar for the Study of the Hebrew Bible; vice president of the
Association for Jewish Studies; board member of the World Union of Jewish
Studies; and the Society for Biblical Literature (Qumran section).
Class
Code: F7-350-03
Monday,
October 22, 2007:
Bringing
the Dead Sea Scrolls Back to Life
Bruce Zuckerman,
Ph.D.,
Director, West Semitic Research Project and Associate Professor of Hebrew
Bible, School of Religion, University of Southern California
Dr. Zuckerman has specialized in documenting
inscriptions from the biblical world, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, using
the highest quality photographic and digital technologies. Learn how advances
in digital technologies and imaging help scholars decipher the Dead Sea
Scrolls and read what was previously unreadable. In a visually-rich
presentation, discover imaging techniques used in the study of ancient
inscriptions.
Dr. Zuckerman received his Ph.D. in Ancient Near Eastern Languages from Yale
University and was subsequently an associate of the Harvard Semitic Museum
before joining the USC faculty in 1980. He is also a partner of West Semitic
Research, director of the West Semitic Research Project and the Inscriptifact
Project, and director of the USC Archaeological Research Collection.
Dr. Zuckerman has published a book on the biblical text of Job, Job the
Silent (New York, NY: Oxford Press, 1991), as well as numerous articles on
ancient texts from biblical times. His photographs have been featured in many
scholarly publications as well as in a number of popular venues. Dr. Zuckerman
specializes in documenting inscriptions from the biblical world, including the
Dead Sea Scrolls. Class
Code: F7-350-04
Monday,
October 29,
2007:
Messianic
Expectation in the Dead Sea Scrolls
John Collins,
Ph.D.,
Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation, Yale
University
The
Dead Sea Scrolls provide the main evidence for renewed messianic expectation
in the last century before the Common Era. The sectarians expected both a
“messiah of Israel,” presumably the Davidic king who would drive out the
Gentiles, and a “messiah of Aaron” who would serve as High Priest in the
messianic age. A number of messianic texts are of special interest because of
parallels in the New Testament.
Dr. Collins received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. His more recent books
include a commentary on Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Fortress,
2004), Does the Bible Justify Violence? (Fortress, 2004), Jewish
Cult and Hellenistic Culture (E. J. Brill, 2005), Encounters with
Biblical Theology (Fortress, 2005), and The Bible after Babel:
Historical Criticism in a Postmodern Age (Eerdmans, 2005).
He has served as editor of the Journal
of Biblical Literature, as president of the Catholic Biblical Association
(1997), and as president of the Society of Biblical Literature (2002). Dr.
Collins is co-editor of The Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism (Continuum,
1998) and is currently editor of the Supplement Series to the Journal for
the Study of Judaism (E. J. Brill) and of the journal Dead Sea
Discoveries.
Class
Code: F7-350-05
Monday,
November 5, 2007:
The
Community of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Christians
James VanderKam,
Ph.D.,
John A. O'Brien
Professor of Hebrew Scriptures,
Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame
The
Dead Sea Scrolls provide a unique insight into the people who used the site of
Qumran for communal purposes such as meals, work and meeting. Join Dr.
VanderKam as he explores the written descriptions of the community, its way of
life and its philosophy. This information will then be compared with accounts
of the earliest followers of Jesus in the Book of Acts, highlighting
similarities and differences.
Dr. VanderKam earned his Ph. D. from Harvard.
His areas of scholarly interest are the history and literature of Early
Judaism and the Hebrew Scriptures. His research in the last decade has focused
on the Dead Sea Scrolls, and he is a member of the editorial committee that is
preparing the editions of the remaining unpublished scrolls. Dr. VanderKam has
edited ten volumes in the official series Discoveries in the Judaean Desert
and several others are in process. He is one of the two editors-in-chief of
the Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (2000). His prize-winning
book, The Dead Sea Scrolls Today (1994), has been translated into six
languages.
His most recent books are a collection of his essays entitled From
Revelation to Canon: Studies in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Literature
(2000), An Introduction to Early Judaism (2001), and The Book of
Jubilees (2001). He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of
Biblical Literature and Vetus Testamentum, is an editor of Dead
Sea Discoveries, writes the book review notes for Journal for the Study
of the Pseudepigrapha, and is on the
editorial boards of several series.
Class
Code: F7-350-06
Monday,
November 12, 2007:
Mystery
and Mysticism at Qumran
Esther
Chazon, Ph.D.,
Director of the Orion Center for the
Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, The Hebrew University
of Jerusalem, Israel
The
Qumran community, the holy congregation of elect “Sons of Light,” held
that God revealed the deeper, hidden meaning of the Torah and Prophets to its
teachers and members through a process of divinely inspired exegesis. The
Qumran community’s transcendent experience and intricate knowledge of the
heavenly realm uncover an early link in the chain of tradition that developed
into classical Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah.
Dr. Chazon is a lecturer at The Hebrew University in the areas of the
Dead Sea Scrolls, Literature of the Second Temple Period, Development of
Jewish Liturgy. She earned her Ph.D. at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Her publications include, “A Liturgical Document from Qumran and Its
Implications: "Words of the Luminaries" (4QDibHam); "Is Divrei
ha-me'orot a Sectarian Prayer?" in The Dead Sea Scrolls: Forty Years
of Research (Magnes Press, 1992).
Class
Code: F7-350-07
Monday,
November 19, 2007:
The Archaeology of
Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Jodi
Magness, Ph.D.,
Kenan
Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism,
Department of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
In 1947, a Bedouin boy discovered the first Dead
Sea Scrolls in a cave by Qumran. Eventually over 900 scrolls were found in
11 caves around Qumran. These scrolls represent a library of religious
literature that belonged to the inhabitants of Qumran in the 1st
century BCE and 1st century CE. In Dr. Magness’ slide-illustrated
lecture, we will review the archaeology of Qumran, incorporating information
that the scrolls provide about the beliefs and practices of the sect.
Dr. Magness received her Ph.D. in Classical Archaeology from the University of
Pennsylvania. Dr. Magness’ book The
Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans,
2002) won the 2003 Biblical Archaeology Society’s award for Best Popular
Book in Archaeology in 2001–2002 and was selected as an Outstanding Academic
Book for 2003 by Choice Magazine.
Dr. Magness’ other books are The
Archaeology of the Early Islamic Settlement in Palestine (Winona Lake, IN:
Eisenbrauns, 2003); Debating Qumran:
Collected Essays on Its Archaeology (Leuven: Peeters, 2004); Hesed
ve-Emet, Studies in Honor of Ernest S. Frerichs (co-edited with S. Gitin;
Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1998); and Jerusalem
Ceramic Chronology Circa 200–800 C.E. (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic,
1993).
Her research interests, which focus on Palestine in the Roman, Byzantine, and
early Islamic periods, include ancient pottery, ancient synagogues, Qumran and
the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Roman army in the East. Dr. Magness has
participated in 20 different excavations in Israel and Greece, and currently
co-directs excavations in the late Roman fort at Yotvata, Israel (since 2003).
Class
Code: F7-350-08
Monday,
November 26, 2007:
Qumran:
The View from Jerusalem
David Goodblatt,
Ph.D.,
Endowed Chair in Judaic Studies, University of California, San Diego
Scholarship
on the Dead Sea Scrolls has understandably placed Qumran at the center of its
attention. However, how would residents of Jerusalem, the capital city of
Second Temple Judah, have viewed the few dozen residents of Qumran and their
literary production? By looking at the periphery from the point of view of the
center, we gain a new perspective on Qumran.
Dr. Goodblatt earned his Ph.D. from Brown University and specializes in the
history of the Jewish people, Judaism and the Middle East in the millennium
preceding the rise of Islam. His publications include Rabbinic Instruction
in Sasanian Babylonia (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1974); The Monarchic
Principle: Studies in Jewish Self-government in Antiquity (Tübingen:
Mohr Siebeck, 1994); Historical Perspectives: From the Hasmoneans to Bar
Kokhba in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls (co-edited with A. Pinnick and
D.R. Schwartz, Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2001); and "The Political and Social
History of the Jewish Community of Palestine 235–634," The
Cambridge History of Judaism Volume 4: The Late Roman-Rabbinic Period
(in press). Dr. Goodblatt is currently researching
aspects of ancient Jewish nationalism.
Class
Code: F7-350-09
Monday,
December 3,
2007: Interpreting
the “Word of God” in the Dead Sea Scrolls
William
Schniedewind, Ph.D.,
Chair, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and Professor of
Biblical Studies and Northwest Semitic Languages, University of California,
Los Angeles
What
was the “Word of God” according to the Dead Sea Scrolls? How does it
relate to the Bible that Jews and Christians use today? How do the Scrolls
interpret Scripture? This lecture explores the authority, limits, and
expansion of the Bible at Qumran.
Dr.Schniedewind’s primary area of research is the problems of orality and
textuality in ancient Israel, particularly as it relates to the writing and
canonization of the Hebrew Bible. His research has culminated in How the
Bible Became a Book: The Textualization of Ancient Israel
(Cambridge University Press, February 2004).
Additionally, Dr. Schniedewind has co-authored a teaching grammar of Ugaritic
with Dr. Joel H. Hunt, A Primer for Ugaritic Language, Literature, and
Culture (Cambridge University Press). Currently, Dr. Schniedewind is
writing a commentary on the Book of Chronicles for Cambridge University
Press’ new commentary series.
Class
Code: F7-350-10
Monday,
December 10, 2006:
Archaeological
Explorations and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The Cave of the Treasure and Early
Religion in Israel
Thomas Levy, Ph.D.,
Norma Kershaw Endowed Chair in
the Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Neighboring Lands and
Professor of Anthropology and Judaic Studies, University of California, San
Diego
During the 1960s, Israeli archaeologists were
determined to discover more Dead Sea Scrolls. Major
archaeological surveys were mounted by researchers. It was during one of these
surveys that the famous "Cave of the Treasure" was
discovered—perhaps the richest ancient copper hoard to have ever been found
in the Middle East. The hoard was dated to the Chalcolithic period, more than
4000 years earlier than the Dead Sea Scrolls. Examine the significance of this
discovery in relation to the major changes in society and religion that
emerged in southern Israel at this time.
Formerly the assistant director of the W. F. Albright Institute
of Archaeological Research and the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical
Archaeology of the Hebrew Union College, Jerusalem, Dr. Levy joined the UCSD
faculty in 1992. He has served as Chair of the Department of Anthropology and
Director of the Judaic Studies Program. He has directed and been the principal
investigator of a number of multi-year excavation projects in the Middle East,
including Shiqmim, Gilat, and Nahal Tillah in the Negev desert of Israel and
the Jabal Hamrat Fidan project in southern Jordan. Levy's current research
focuses primarily on the Iron Age in southern Jordan and investigating the
processes that led to the rise of the kingdom of Edom. Class
Code: F7-350-11
