September 2011, Daily News

Dead Sea Scrolls Now Revealed in Detail for Everyone to See

Tue, Oct 11, 2011

At first the ancient scrolls and fragments remained the exclusive domain of a small group of scholars, cloistered almost secretively within a room, hunched over tables whereon laid carefully prepared rows and columns of the fragile 2,000-year-old+ manuscripts beneath a layer of glass, like old Autumn leaves pressed between glass panes. The revelations that could emerge from the translation work, it seemed, remained under lock and key.

Not so today. In fact, few documentary collections and finds can compare to the new transparency that has now developed around these, the Dead Sea Scrolls. On September 25th, 2011, the Israel Museum opened its digital doors to the public with the website launching of the Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Project, a web-based database of digital images that allows users of the general public to view, examine and study these ancient manuscripts in a way never previously possible. Developed through a collaborative effort between Google and the Israel Museum, the database provides not only searchable, fast-loading, ultra-high-resolution images of the scrolls, but background information, search query functionality, history, explanatory videos, and translations of the text, as well. Included is an option for users to submit translations of the verses in their own languages.  

Says James S. Snyder, Director of the Israel Museum, "They are of paramount importance among the touchstones of monotheistic world heritage, and they represent unique highlights of our Museum's encyclopedic holdings. Now, through our partnership with Google, we are able to bring these treasures to the broadest possible public."

The Dead Sea Scrolls represent the world's oldest known surviving examples of Biblical and extra-biblical manuscripts, providing a rare look at the diversity and religious thought of Second Temple Judaism, the pivotal time that witnessed historical changes and events, including the birth of Christianity and the beginnings of Rabbinic Judaism.  First discovered in 1946 by two young Bedouin boys in caves close to the ancient site of Khirbet Qumran near the Dead Sea, the parchment and papyrus scroll fragments passed through a number of hands and deals until they were finally purchased by Professor Benjamin Mazar and Yigael Yadin and brought to Jerusalem. The manuscripts are thought by many scholars to be copies of biblical and extra-biblical texts produced by scribes of a Jewish sect, the Essenes, members of whom, they suggest, lived at the site of Qumran during the Second Temple period (between 530 BCE and 70 CE, when the Second Temple of Jerusalem existed). 

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Qumran in the West Bank, Middle East. In this cave some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Wikimedia Commons

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Remains of living quarters at Khirbet Qumran, near the caves whee the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Many scholars suggest that this was the location of the community that produced, maintained and stored the scrolls. Wikimedia Commons 

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At its launch, publication of the Project generated immediate popular attention, to say the least. Within the first week, the site saw well over a million hits, with 400,000 of them from Americans alone, far exceeding the Project managers' expectations.

The digitized scrolls that are now accessible include:

• The Great Isaiah Scroll, comprising what is known today as the Book of Isaiah. Dated to ca. 125 BCE, it is considered to be the only complete ancient copy of a biblical book in existence.
• The War Scroll, dated to the late first century BCE or early first century CE. It describes a forty-nine-year conflict between the "Sons of Light" and the "Sons of Darkness", concluding with the victory of the "Sons of Light" and restoration of Temple practice. 
• The Temple Scroll, dated to the early first century CE. It includes details of God’s instructions for construction and operation of the Jerusalem Temple. 
• The Community Rule, which describes the way of life of a community (thought by many scholars to be the Jewish sect of the Essenes of the Second Temple Period), including such things as the method of prayer, cleansing rituals, communal meals, and dealing with admission of new members and transgressors of the law. 
• The Commentary on Habakkuk, which interprets the initial chapters of the book of the prophet Habakkuk. 

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Photographic reproduction of the Great Isaiah Scroll, the best preserved of the biblical scrolls found at Qumran. It contains the entire Book of Isaiah in Hebrew, apart from some small damaged parts. Wikimedia Commons

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Detail of the Isaiah Scroll. Wikimedia Commons

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These scrolls, and more, can be seen first-hand with a visit to the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, where many of the scroll documents are housed. Shaped like the lid of a typical jar in which many of the scrolls were originally found, the museum structure strikes an unusual form, distinct from the buildings surrounding it. Inside, one can walk a complete circle in the upper hall interior beneath the parabolic dome while following the length of the glassed-in exhibit that displays the Isaiah A scroll, among the longest and most complete finds of the scroll collection.

But for most of the world, the up-close-and-personal interactive experience brought about by the newly digitized documents will bring a new, detailed learning and scholarly perspective that has been, up until now, out of reach and therefore out of mind. Says Professor Yossi Matias, Managing Director of Google's Research and Development Center in Israel: 

"The Dead Sea Scrolls Project with the Israel Museum enriches and preserves an important part of world heritage by making it accessible to all on the internet. Having been involved in similar projects in the past, including the Google Art Project, Yad Vashem Holocaust Collection, and the Prado Museum in Madrid, we have seen how people around the world can enhance their knowledge and understanding of key historical events by accessing documents and collections online. We hope one day to make all existing knowledge in historical archives and collections available to all, including putting additional Dead Sea Scroll documents online."

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The Shrine of the Book, part of the Israel Museum. Edo M. Wikimedia Commons

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Anyone interested in viewing and studying the manuscripts through the Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Project may do so by going to http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/. 

Cover Photo, Top Left:  Qumran in the West Bank, Middle East. In this cave the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Wikimedia Commons