Dead Sea Scrolls
I went with Matt to see the Dead Sea Scrolls yesterday. They were being exhibited at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Tickets were $24, but it was totally worth it.
The scrolls, "widely acknowledged to be among the greatest archaeological treasures ever discovered", had been found between 1947 and 1956 in caves near the Dead Sea in Israel. They were dated from 250 BC to 68 AD. To quote the website:
Among them are some 230 biblical manuscripts representing nearly every book in the Hebrew Bible; more than 1000 years older than any previously known copies. There are also apocryphal manuscripts (texts excluded from the biblical canon) previously known only in translation or not at all.
The exhibit was fascinating. First there were a variety of pictures of modern-day Israel and the Dead Sea area. Then they showed what a painstaking process it was to reassemble the fragments of the scrolls. It was actually hard just to get the scrolls together, buying them from various nomads and hawk-shop owners. When they reassembled the scrolls, they used scotch tape, which damaged the parchments and papyri.
Assembled pieces of the actual scrolls were downstairs. The lights were low. Everybody carried a little audio baton, so that one could punch in a number for accompanying recordings and hold it up to one's ear. The scrolls are from a variety of books in the Hebrew Bible (a.k.a. the Old Testament) as well as apocryphal books, like the book of war (a apocalyptic book prophesying about the end times), "Songs of the Sage" (prayers of exorcism), and even a commentary of Nahum, a biblical book. The scrolls were encased in glass. On the wall behind each scroll was an enlarged image of the scroll, with its neat, ancient Hebrew script, and a translation and description.
The scrolls, "widely acknowledged to be among the greatest archaeological treasures ever discovered", had been found between 1947 and 1956 in caves near the Dead Sea in Israel. They were dated from 250 BC to 68 AD. To quote the website:
Among them are some 230 biblical manuscripts representing nearly every book in the Hebrew Bible; more than 1000 years older than any previously known copies. There are also apocryphal manuscripts (texts excluded from the biblical canon) previously known only in translation or not at all.
The exhibit was fascinating. First there were a variety of pictures of modern-day Israel and the Dead Sea area. Then they showed what a painstaking process it was to reassemble the fragments of the scrolls. It was actually hard just to get the scrolls together, buying them from various nomads and hawk-shop owners. When they reassembled the scrolls, they used scotch tape, which damaged the parchments and papyri.
Assembled pieces of the actual scrolls were downstairs. The lights were low. Everybody carried a little audio baton, so that one could punch in a number for accompanying recordings and hold it up to one's ear. The scrolls are from a variety of books in the Hebrew Bible (a.k.a. the Old Testament) as well as apocryphal books, like the book of war (a apocalyptic book prophesying about the end times), "Songs of the Sage" (prayers of exorcism), and even a commentary of Nahum, a biblical book. The scrolls were encased in glass. On the wall behind each scroll was an enlarged image of the scroll, with its neat, ancient Hebrew script, and a translation and description.