"Six of the seven chapters in The Dead Sea scrolls and the Bible began as the Speaker's Lectures at Oxford University, delivered during the first two weeks of May 2009"--Introd.

Dr. Norman Golb's classic study on the origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls is now available online. Since their earliest discovery in 1947, the Scrolls have been the object of fascination and extreme controversy. Challenging traditional dogma, Golb has been the leading proponent of the view that the Scrolls cannot be the work of a small, desert-dwelling fringe sect, as various earlier scholars had claimed, but are in all likelihood the remains of libraries of various Jewish groups, smuggled out of Jerusalem and hidden in desert caves during the Roman siege of 70 A. D. Contributing to the enduring debate sparked by the book's original publication in 1995, this digital edition contains additional material reporting on new developments that have led a series of major Israeli and European archaeologists to support Golb's basic conclusions. In its second half, the book offers a detailed analysis of the workings of the scholarly monopoly that controlled the Scrolls for many years, and discusses Golb's role in the struggle to make the texts available to the public. Pleading for an end to academic politics and a commitment to the search for truth in scrolls scholarship, Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? sets a new standard for studies in intertestamental history "This book is 'must reading'.... 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...." Dr. Gregory T. Armstrong, 'Church History' 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... 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...." Daniel O'Hara, 'New Humanist'

The recovery of 800 documents in the eleven caves on the northwest shores of the Dead Sea is one of the most sensational archeological discoveries in the Holy Land to date. These three volumes, the very best of critical scholarship, demonstrate in detail how the scrolls have revolutionized our knowledge of the text of the Bible, the character of Second Temple Judaism, and the Jewish beginnings of Christianity.

"Since the spring of 1947, when ancient manuscripts which came to be known as the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the Judean wilderness, scholars have been debating their origins and dates, attempting to place them in their proper historical context and searching other cave finds which might give them further enlightenment on pre-Christian Judaism. In this volume on Dead Sea Scrolls and the Qumran Community, Charles F. Pfeiffer relates the dramatic story of how the Scrolls were found and what they contain. Less than three centuries after Christ, the church father Origen mentioned Greek and Hebrew manuscripts which were found stored in jars in the region of Jericho. But this could not be confirmed until seventeen centuries later, when an Arab lad herding sheep or goats in the area entered a cave—perhaps in pursuit of a stray goat, perhaps taking refuge from a sudden thunderstorm, perhaps while smuggling goods across the Jordan to Bethlehem—and came upon the documents, which he tried to sell in the marketplace. How two buyers each brought part of the lot without realizing who had the other part, how one buyer tried to sell his acquisition in the United States before ceding it to the State of Israel, how archeologists were inspired to explore other caves and how their digs in eleven caves produced at least four hundred additional manuscripts—all of these facts provide a fascinating insight into what Professor Frank Cross has called "the ultimate in jigsaw puzzles. Certain myths and legends are dispelled: although Qumran has been reported to be the site of Gomorrah, the location has been proved to be wrong, and it is more likely that it was a Roman military outpost. In any case, the civilization which existed there was a highly developed one: inkwells with dried ink point to learned scribes who apparently copied the manuscripts and had them in their possession when they saw their homes about to be destroyed by Roman legions. Through the excavations of the ruins the whole history of Jews was reconstituted: the idol worship of the pre-exile period; the influence of the Hellenism during the time of Alexander the Great; the scourge of venality in the days when priesthoods were openly bought and sold; the guerrilla war with Syria and the subsequent cleansing of the Temple by Judas, still celebrated in the feast of Hanukkah; the origins of the Hassidim, who supported religious liberty but not nationalism; the evolution of sects such as the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes. The author traces the background of customs such as common meals and explains the origin of water purification and common property laws. the reader can learn the true meaning of the scroll: "The War Between the Children of Light and the Children of Darkness," and be informed that the Jewish religion, unlike other theologies, considered the one and omnipotent God to be the author of both good and evil, master of the world. In short, this is an invaluable handbook for the historian, theologian, the archeologist and indeed for any curious reader."-Publisher.

Professor Brooke is at the forefront of research on the Dead Sea Scrolls and here he offers a wealth of knowledge and subtle analysis. This book sheds light on the first-century world shared by the Qumran community and the writers of the New Testament.

The intersection of archaeology and text in the late Second Temple period -- 2. Purifying the body and hands -- 3. Creeping and swarming creatures, locusts, fish, dogs, chickens, and pigs -- 4. Household vessels: pottery, oil lamps, glass, stone, and dung -- 5. Dining customs and communal meals -- 6. Sabbath observance and fasting -- 7. Coins -- 8. Clothing and tzitzit -- 9. Oil and spit -- 10. Toilets and toilet habits -- 11. Tombs and burial customs -- 12. Epilogue: the aftermath of 70.

From the dramatic find in the caves of Qumran, the world's most ancient version of the Bible allows us to read the scriptures as they were in the time of Jesus.

The Dead Sea Scrolls continue to shed ancient light on both the text and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible during the Second Temple period. Among the scrolls are several copies of Genesis dating from the first century BC to the mid-first century AD that contain portions of text from the creation account. These fragmentary copies have provided an unprecedented glimpse into the condition of the text in antiquity and have also provided a unique window into certain scribal practices in the copying of the text. In addition, several texts from Qumran contain the most ancient surviving interpretations of the Genesis creation account, dating from the mid-second century BC to the first century AD. A literary analysis of these texts reveals how ancient Jews interpreted and employed the creation account. These diverse texts address issues such as the creation of various entities (the universe, angels, Eden, humanity), Adam's dominion and knowledge in Eden, God's election of Israel on the first Sabbath, the prohibition in the garden and Adam's rebellion, and the Garden of Eden as an archetype of the sanctuary.