Welcome,
esteemed viewers,
to A Journey through
Aesthetic Realms.
Today, we will visit
the Dead Sea Scrolls
Foundation in Jerusalem
which takes care of
the preservation,
exhibition and publishing
of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Also called
the Qumran Scrolls,
these precious documents
have even been regarded
as the most important
archeological finding
of the 20th century.
They are by far
the oldest existing scrolls
of biblical scriptures
studied in three of
the world’s major religions:
Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam.
My name is Pnina Shor
and I’m a head of
a new unit that the Israel
Antiquities Authority
established to take care of
the Dead Sea Scrolls.
So the unit is called
Dead Sea Scrolls Project,
and what we do is
we take care of
the scrolls physically,
meaning conservation
and preservation
of the scrolls.
We do
all the curatorial work.
We are in charge of
the Dead Sea Scrolls
exhibitions
all over the world.
And we are in charge of
this big, huge
digitalization project
that we are about to begin.
The Dead Sea Scrolls
are a collection of
hundreds of documents
from the Hebrew Bible
as well as religious texts
which are not part
of the biblical canon.
My name is Emanuel Tov.
I am a professor
of Hebrew Bible
at the Hebrew University
in Jerusalem, Israel.
I teach Bible and
I teach Dead Sea Scrolls.
Some 20 years ago,
I’ve been appointed
as the editor-in-chief
of the International
Dead Sea Scrolls
Publication Committee.
Before that time, I studied
the Dead Sea Scrolls
in general and I also
published some scrolls,
but at that point
20 years ago,
I was appointed to oversee
some 50, 60, 70 people
in the whole world
that were involved
with the publication
of the scrolls.
It means that we look at
the little fragments
and we try to read them.
We call that “to decipher”
what is written
on each small fragment,
and we try
to combine the fragments
to a larger picture.
And we then
try to understand.
And since the scrolls
are fragmentary,
we have to reconstruct
what is found in the places
that have not
been preserved, and
we write a commentary
on each scroll.
The Dead Sea Scrolls,
that’s the name
we give to these fragments
which have been found
in 1947 in a cave,
and then afterwards
in several additional caves
near the Dead Sea.
That’s the lowest point
on Earth,
a very hot area in Israel.
And because
it was a hot area,
the fragments have been
preserved very well.
It’s an enormous amount
of material.
We now reckon
that they are more than
900 different scrolls,
although sometimes only
small pieces of a scroll
have been preserved.
The scrolls were
first discovered in 1947
at Khirban Qumran
on the northwestern shore
of the Dead Sea by
a Bedouin shepherd boy.
From 1947 to 1956,
many scrolls
were unearthed
in several locations,
mostly along the western
shore of the Dead Sea.
In the 1960s,
more scrolls were found
during the excavation
of the ancient fortress
of Masada.
And even in the last decade,
there have still been a few
new findings of scrolls.
They give us
a very good life picture
of literature that was used
by the Jewish people
2,000 years ago.
They are written
in ancient Hebrew,
and ancient Hebrew
is the language
of the Hebrew Bible.
And a smaller group is
in Aramaic.
That’s a language
that is related to Hebrew,
and some of the books
in the Hebrew Bible
like Ezra, Daniel are also
in Aramaic.
And Aramaic
was the language
that was spoken by Jesus.
So it’s a very important
language.
Some scrolls were written
in the Greek language,
the language that was
the language of the period.
The proper conservation
of these unique scrolls
is an elaborate task and
an enormous responsibility
which requires
a lot of dedication.
My name is Elena Libman.
I am the head
of the Dead Sea Scrolls
conservation laboratory
of the Israel Antiquities
Authority in Jerusalem.
Shortly after the discovery,
they were re-placed
from the desert to
the Rockefeller Museum
in Jerusalem.
And a team
of eight scholars
dealt with the scrolls
and when deciphering and
putting the right position
to the million fragments,
unfortunately
they used tape.
Actually nobody
wanted to do any harm
to the scrolls, but the fact is
that harm was done.
Let me show you
the sample of such a plate
with more than 30
I think, tiny fragments
written in Hebrew
and put in between
two sheets of plain glass,
window glass.
And you can see the tape
glued on the back side
of each fragment,
sometimes several layers,
one upon another.
When two or three parts
of same fragment
were found, unfortunately
they were joined in such
an inappropriate way.
First thing which was done
when we became
conservators here – it was
almost 20 years ago –
was to replace the fragment
from glass plates
to acid-free cardboards.
Most of them are now
in acid-free cardboards
but there are some,
about 10 or 15 plates,
like this one, remained
in glass plates. Why?
Because in this case,
the fragments are stuck
to the surface of the glass
and it’s impossible
for us to open it.
When the scrolls
were replaced
from the glass plates to
the acid-free cardboard,
as this is the sample,
the scroll looks like this one.
This is very tiny,
very small fragments
of tefillin,
what, maybe you know,
religious Jews use
when praying.
We put it in a tiny box here
on the forehead,
and on the left hand.
So this is
a head phylacteries
for the forehead,
and it is prepared to be
exhibited in such a way
we have to put fragments
inside two layers of
such a sort of polyester net.
Each fragment
is sewn around,
not touching it,
with the same thread.
It is written on both sides,
that is why it is possible
to see it from both sides.
Now it is opened
because it is back,
not exhibited.
In case when it is not
written on both sides,
it is put on
the background of a linen.
A cornerstone for
the foundation of Judaism
and subsequently
for Christianity was
the Ten Commandments,
which were given to Moses
on Mount Sinai.
We were indeed lucky
to have a chance to see
the only Dead Sea Scroll
which contains
the oldest existing writing
of the Holy
Ten Commandments!
This is
a very interesting scroll,
the Deuteronomy scroll,
the one and only scroll
with the Ten Commandments,
written 2,000 years ago.
Here it is. It is written,
“Honor your father
and your mother.” Here.
The Dead Sea Scrolls
were written during
a crucial time in history.
Ms. Pnina Shor explains:
The scrolls are manuscripts
that were written
between the end of
the third century BC and
until the first century CE,
until the year 70 –
the destruction
of the Second Temple.
And the majority of them
were written
in the first century BC
and the first CE.
And this is the crucial time
in history, when both
Judaism and Christianity
were formalizing
as we know them today.
Therefore, these scrolls
are very, very important
both to the Jewish world
and to the Christian world.
Who were the people
who wrote the scrolls?
What information
do the scrolls give
about them?
They include all
of the books of the Bible
and more than one copy
of them, except for
the Book of Esther.
They include a lot of
non-Biblical material,
apocryphal,
apocalyptic writings,
sectarian writings or
writings that were written
by a certain sect at the end
of Second Temple times.
They called themselves
the Yachad, which mean
“togetherness,”
and they’re one
of many such groups
that formed at the end of
the Second Temple times.
And early Christians
were such another group.
So there’s a lot of writings,
especially
the sectarian writings or
the apocalyptic writings
that talk about the Messiah,
about the world
at the end of the days
that the Christian world
relates to.
But there’s no actual copy
of the New Testament
within the scrolls because
the New Testament began
to be compiled only about
a century or two later.
The public in the world
usually thinks
that the Dead Sea Scrolls
[are] only the scrolls
of the Bible, because
they’re so important.
And indeed, the Bible
has been found there
and many, many copies.
But there are also
other scrolls
that we call briefly
“non-biblical scrolls,”
and these scrolls
aren’t just anything.
They could be
sectarian writings
describing the life
of the people who lived
near the Dead Sea.
Some of them
are psalms (hymns).
Some of them
are calendars
describing the work
in the imaginary temple.
And through that work
in the temple and
the names of the people
that had to work
in the temple,
we understand
about their calendar,
which was different
from the calendar
in the remainder of Israel.
Other scrolls
are commentaries
on the Bible.
Other scrolls are
simply works that are,
you might say, notes.
Other scrolls describe
theological issues,
how to relate to God,
how to worship God,
prayers to God.
And what God will do
with us
at “the end of days.”
This concludes
the first part
of our program featuring
the Dead Sea Scrolls
Foundation.
Thank you,
gracious viewers,
for being with us today
on A Journey through
Aesthetic Realms.
Please tune in again
next Sunday, July 3,
for the 2nd and final part
of our exploration
of the fascinating
Dead Sea Scrolls.
We will find out more
about the digitalization
and online publishing
of the scrolls,
and about the beliefs
of the spiritual group
who wrote these valuable
religious testimonies.
Now, please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television for
Our Noble Lineage,
right after
Noteworthy News.
May Heaven’s abundant
blessings be upon you.
To find out more about
the Dead Sea Scrolls,
please visit:
Dead Sea Scrolls
Foundation:
www.DeadSeaScrollsFoundation.com
Israel Antiquities Authority:
www.Antiquities.org.il
Prof. Emanuel Tov’s
website:
www.EmanuelTov.info
Welcome,
cherished viewers,
to the 2nd and final part
of our program
on the Dead Sea Scrolls,
a famous collection
of documents
that were discovered
in the 20th century.
We will continue our visit at
the Dead Sea Scrolls
Foundation in Jerusalem
which takes care of
the preservation,
exhibition and publishing
of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Also called
the Qumran Scrolls for the name of the site near where they were found,
these precious documents
have even been regarded
as the most important
archeological finding
of the 20th century.
They are by far
the oldest existing scrolls
of biblical scriptures
studied in three of
the world’s major religions:
Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam.
Professor Emanuel Tov is
a professor emeritus
of the Bible
at Hebrew University
of Jerusalem
and former editor-in-chief
of the international
Dead Sea Scrolls
Publication Project.
Modern scholarship
thinks that certain scrolls
were written at Qumran
and others were not
written at Qumran
but were imported
to Qumran.
I think we can know
which, more or less,
not exactly, which scrolls
were written
by the Qumran scribes.
I think there was
a Qumran scribal school.
So the people
who lived at Qumran,
the so-called group or sect,
they wrote
all the sectarian writings
as I described
a little while ago,
sectarian writings
that depict the life
of the community.
But many other writings
were brought to Qumran.
What I depict in my mind
is that the scrolls
were brought there
by the Qumran people
as they moved out
from the centers of society,
say Jerusalem,
and they went to the desert
to live a spiritual life.
So they took with them
everything they owned,
including scrolls.
Some believe
that the people
who wrote the scrolls
belonged to the spiritual
order of the Essenes.
Could this be true?
Professor Tov
has concluded that it is.
But Ms. Pnina Shor,
the curator of the
Dead Sea Scrolls Project
of the Israel
Antiquities Authority,
has a different view.
In general, I can tell you
that this group was ascetic.
You know, they were
very, very religious, and
the idea of purification
was very central
to their way of life.
Many scholars say
that this group
is not necessarily
the Essenes, because
nowhere in the scrolls
is the name
of the Essenes mentioned.
The only name
we can give this group is
what they called themselves.
They called themselves
in the scrolls
the “Community,”
they called themselves
the Yachad.
The Yachad means
the community.
And this is why it’s called
the Community Rule.
In the caves at Qumran,
ten fragmentary copies
and one complete copy
of the Community Rule
of the Yachad group
were found.
The following
is an excerpt from it
in its English translation:
“No man shall argue
or quarrel with the men
of perdition.
He shall keep his council
in secrecy
in the midst of the men
of deceit and admonish
with knowledge, truth and
righteous commandment
those of chosen conduct,
each according to
his spiritual quality
and according to
the norm of time.
He shall guide them
with knowledge
and instruct them
in the mysteries
of wonder and truth in
the midst of the members
of the community…
He shall perform the will
[of God] in all his deeds
and in all strength
as He has commanded.
He shall freely delight
in all that befalls him,
and shall desire nothing
except God's will...”
The writings
of the New Testament,
which comprise
the last part
of the Christian Bible,
were written
at the same time that some
of the Dead Sea Scrolls
were written.
However,
the Dead Sea Scrolls
do not contain
any of the gospels
of the New Testament
and do not mention
the name of Jesus Christ.
Therefore,
it cannot be assumed
that the people
who wrote the scrolls
were early Christians.
However, the spiritual
group at Qumran
and the early Christians
shared some similarities.
For example, one parallel
to the Early Christians is
that the scrolls of Qumran
speak about the “Teacher
of Righteousness,”
a wise Master
who was persecuted
without real justification.
They have in common
that they both call
their new religion
“The New Covenant,”
or as we say now,
“The New Testament.”
The New Testament is
a new covenant with God
that replaces
the old contract with God.
And also,
the Qumran people,
Essenes, speak about
the New Covenant.
They share
all kinds of ideas.
They share the idea
of immersion in water
to clean the body
and the spirit,
named baptism
in the New Testament
with a Greek word.
They share the idea
of common meals.
They share the serving
of God with prayer.
They share the seeking
for justice,
the love for God.
And we see very often
the same types of phrases
used in both places.
The Sermon on the Mount
has “the meek of spirit
will come to me,” etc.
There’s a section in one
of the Qumran scrolls,
co-called 4 Qumran 525
that is similar to
the Sermon on the Mount.
In Judaism, it is not allowed
to erase or damage
the name of God in Hebrew.
Jewish people also
refrain from pronouncing
God’s name in Hebrew.
It is treated
with great reverence.
Ms. Elena Libman, head
of the Dead Sea Scrolls
laboratory, showed us
a scroll where the scribe
had accidently written it.
This is one part
of a long scroll,
psalm scroll,
which is very interesting.
There are two types
of script here.
A square type of script
of the whole text, and
sometimes you may see
such a sort of another
script, 4 letters actually.
This one and this one.
This is the name of God;
four letters,
Tetragrammaton
in Greek, Yodh –
He – Waw – He,
four letters.
It was forbidden,
and it is forbidden,
to pronounce
the name of God,
and only these four letters
are Hashem (reference
to God) in Hebrew.
They are written
in this script which is
actually the script of
the First Temple [period].
And this is very touching.
When the man
who wrote the scroll
made a mistake,
he simply erased it,
like this one or this one,
or the letter
or even the whole word.
But in this case,
the name of God
was written here
by mistake but
it was forbidden for him
to simply remove it.
That’s why
he put dots above,
above the letters
and on the bottom.
That means for us,
for you and me,
don’t read it.
It’s a mistake.
It’s very touching, isn’t it?
We found in Qumran
various commentaries
on the books of the Bible.
A special commentary
is the one called
Sharim Pesher [Pesharim].
And a Pesher is
what we call
a sectarian writing,
namely, the so-called
Pesher literature
shows us the way
the Hebrew Bible was
viewed by the members
of the Essene group.
And they wanted
to show us that basically,
the Hebrew Bible shows
that the views
of the Essenes are correct,
and that they are
themselves already
mentioned in the Bible,
because every time
the Bible speaks about
the good men,
it speaks about them,
for example.
And if the Bible
speaks about the bad men,
then it speaks about
their enemies.
The Dead Sea Scrolls
give a clear picture
of the spiritual values
the people who wrote them,
as well as their daily life
and religious rituals.
The group
that lived at Qumran
talk a lot about their
cleansing themselves,
their body.
And it’s true
that on the spot, we found
an enormous water system.
This is a very dry area.
And the water fell
only in the winter
and when it fell, it fell
with an enormous speed
and they collected the water
in several water basins.
The texts speak about it,
that the people
who lived on the spot
had to clean themselves
several times a day.
Really, the main things
they talk about
is learning the Bible,
cleaning themselves
and working
and worshipping God.
And the fact that
they entered the water
is not only a cleansing
their body but also
purifying their mind, and
they appear more clean
before their God.
And this should be seen
parallel to the baptism
in the New Testament.
They lived a life of
austerity and poorness,
and for them, to be poor
was a virtue.
Like in the Book of Psalms,
they said the poor people
are the ones
who can serve the Lord.
So, they had
a very intellectual life
of working and learning
and all this is reflected
in the writings
that have been found
near the Dead Sea.
Next, Ms. Pnina Shor
spoke to us
about the digitalization
of the Dead Sea Scrolls
and the collaboration with
Internet company Google
to publish them online.
It was suggested to us
by a professor
for the Weizmann Institute
to use spectral imaging
to monitor the well-being
of the scrolls.
Now, spectral imaging
was first developed
for NASA
(National Aeronautics
and Space Administration),
and one of their senior
physicists, whose name
is Craig Berman,
is our consultant today
for this whole project.
Once we decided
to do that, we said,
“Wow, if we’re going
to image these scrolls,
why don’t we do
an overall project,
whereby we’ll image
all of the scrolls in the
best possible resolution?
In color and infrared
and everything
beyond infrared,
which will then give us
the best possible
infrared images and
those spectral images
that we need
for the monitoring?”
And then we said,
“Okay, why don’t we add
all the transcriptions,
the translations,
the bibliography,
everything that we know
about the scrolls?
And since
it is all published,
and since this is
mutual cultural heritage,
why don’t we share it
with the world?”
Soon,
thanks to the meticulous
expert endeavors,
everyone will be able to
view the Dead Sea Scrolls
at home
from one’s computer.
They combine
the millions of fragments
to do the “ultimate puzzle”
themselves!
The idea is that once
we complete the imaging,
you’ll have
everything online.
As I always picture it,
it's like you can sit back
in your couch at home
and google
any Dead Sea Scroll
that you would like to see.
You'll be able to
do the ultimate puzzle
by taking
the different fragments
and trying to see
if you don't like
the reconstruction
of the scholars, you can
try and do it yourself.
Ms. Pnina Shor
shared with us
one of her favorite quotes
from the Dead Sea Scrolls.
There's the famous Psalm,
which says in Hebrew,
“Behold, how good
and how pleasant it is
for brethren
to dwell together in unity.”
In free translation,
it says, “Behold,
how good it is for brethren
to sit together.”
With these uplifting words,
we conclude our program
on the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Our sincere thanks
and best wishes,
Professor Emanuel Tov,
Ms. Pnina Shor
and Ms. Elena Libman
for introducing the work
of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Foundation in preserving,
deciphering and publishing
these illuminating
ancient documents.
Thank you,
goodhearted viewers,
for joining us today
on A Journey through
Aesthetic Realms.
Up next is
Our Noble Lineage,
right after
Noteworthy News.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
May peace,
love and wisdom
be ever present in your life.
To find out more about
the Dead Sea Scrolls,
please visit:
Dead Sea Scrolls
Foundation:
www.DeadSeaScrollsFoundation.com
Israel Antiquities Authority:
www.Antiquities.org.il
Prof. Emanuel Tov’s
website:
www.EmanuelTov.info