Dead Sea Scrolls

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Although discovered in the late 1940s, the Dead Sea Scrolls — a collection of Judaic texts dating from roughly 200 BCE to 100 CE — have only recently become fully available to scholars and the public.  In this course, we will explore these ancient documents both by reading a selection of them (as well as secondary texts that put them in context) and by comparing them to traditional biblical texts from the same era.  In addition to seeking an appreciation of the scrolls themselves, we will also seek greater understanding of various strands of thought current at the dawn of both rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity.  No prior knowledge or experience of any kind is required.

Texts
  • Shanks (ed.), Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls: A Reader from the Biblical Archaeology Review
  • The Dead Sea Scrolls
  • Abegg et al. (trans.), The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
  • The Book of Jubilees
  • Hebrew Bible
  • New Testament
TAUGHT: SUMMER 2003, WINTER 2008, WINTER 2009