03 June 2011

Final Report


This final blog will be a summary of all my researches, in this page you will find in synthesis of all the information collected and posted in the previous pages. This is an overview about my findings on the  Dead Sea Scrolls.
Discovery
Year 1947, in a desolated land called Qumran, between the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea, a Bedouin,  Muhammed edh-Dhib,  “The Wolf” is looking for his lost goat. He is throwing stones into the caves to check the presence of the lost animal. In doing this he hears a sound of breaking  jars. Moved by curiosity he found, at the bottom of the cave, different jars containing ancient texts: The Dead sea Scrolls.
Between 1947 and 1956 Qumran has been the most important archaeological site of the world . In this period a collection of 972 ancient texts in 11 different caves has been found. The majority of them are made of parchment or papyrus, mainly written in Hebrew and Aramaic and few in Greek.  The Scrolls have been analysed by many scholars and organizations, such us the university of California using sophisticated techniques like Cyclotron to demonstrate their authenticity. Studies have been able to date the Scrolls between the 150 BCE and 70 CE.

Content
We can classify the content of the Scrolls in three different categories:
40%  Biblical: texts from the Hebrew Bible
30%  Apocryphal: or non-bible texts with documents not canonized in the Hebrew bible.
30%  Sectarian: previously unknown documents about beliefs and rules of a particular group such us “Community Rule”, “Rule of Blessing” and “War Rule”.
Among the Biblical texts we find:

39 Psalms  
33 Deuteronomy  
25 1 Enoch  
24 Genesis
22 Isaiah
21 Jubilees
18 Exodus  
17 Leviticus  
11 Numbers  
10 Minor Prophets  
8  Daniel  
6  Jeremiah
6  Ezekiel  
6  Job 6
4  1 & 2 Samuel








 Who wrote them?
Many theories have been supported by the scholars to find the authors of the most  ancient texts ever discovered. Here is the list of the most significant:

The Essene Theory
This is the prevailing theory. The presence of sectarian texts led Scholars to assume that the Scrolls were written by a sectarian Hebrew group, who decided to establish in Qumran to escape a kind of persecution.  Biblical Scholars Roland GuĂ©rin de Vaux and  Jozef Tadeusz Milik , affirm that this sect were the Essene that escaping from the Maccabees dominace, decided to leave Jerusalem and to settle in Qumran. Many similarities between the community described in the Sea Scrolls and our knowledge of the Essene people has brought to consider that the Essene Theory was the most trustable hypothesis among all the others.





The Sadducean Theory
Not all scholars agree with Milik and de Vaux. New York University professor of Jewish and Hebraic studies Lawrence Schiffman belives that this sect was in reality the Sadducee. Schiffman bases his theory on the "Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah" Scroll which is identical to the Sudducee laws and which also include a festival calendar according to the Sadducee festival days.

Jerusalem Origin Theory
Others Scholars like Karl Heinrich Rengstorf, affirm that the scrolls were the product of Jews living in Jerusalem, who hid the scrolls in the caves near Qumran while fleeing from the Romans during the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE.

The Christian Origin Theory
I have dedicated an entire post to this theory because it has generated a lot of controversies throughout the years. This hypothesis assumes that there is a connection between the Scrolls and the beginning  of Christianity. It can also change all the certainties we have about the history of Christianity, including the historical time of its origin.
Michael Wise, Assistant Professor of Aramaic  in the Department of Near Eastern Languages at the University of Chicago and Robert Eisenman of the Department of Religious Studies at State University of California, have tried to connect Christianity to the Scrolls, referring to the quotations about the Messiah found in the Scrolls.  Particularly in Isaiah we have the description of the Man of sorrow, which is talking about Christ’s passion.
In fact about 20% of the scrolls were soon published, but the remainder were held out for 35 years, this gave  some scholars the impression  that important truths were hidden in the Scrolls, so important that the Vatican was trying to avoid the publication.
This Theory was very soon declared false, when the Scrolls were finally published, and at the end the  Scholars arrived to the conclusion that there is nothing in the scrolls to show that Christianity came from Qumran.
The connection showed with Isaiah in fact is part of the old testament which is dated thousand  years  before Christ, and it is the prophecy of the Messiah. The word “Jesus” and other elements of his life, that could support the idea that the community of Qumran has known Jesus Christ, are not present in the Scrolls.





The Mystery of the Copper Scrolls
One Scroll, among all the 900 texts  found in Qumran, is unique for many reason: It’s not made of parchment or papyrus but of metal: Copper!  It’s not written in usual Hebrew but in a different dialect, the Mishnaic Hebrew.  The content is also unique: it is not Bible texts and not sectarian rules.
It is a the oldest treasure map ever found. A list of 64 locations hiding gold, silver and precious priest garment. 
There is also the anomaly that seven of the location names are followed by a group of two or three Greek letters. Scholars have connected this particularity of the Scroll with Greek inventory, using similar “cataloguing” methods at the Greek Temple of Apollo. This similarity to the Greek inventories, would suggest that this scroll is in fact an authentic "temple inventory."
Some of the places mentioned in the scroll are easy to locate in  a modern map: Jericho, the valley of Achor and Mt Gerizim still exist, but many of the hiding place are no longer present on the map and  are very difficult to locate. The Salomon Canal, the well of Milham and Matia’s courtyard are hiding gold garments and treasures but there is no idea where they could be. 
Scholars have estimated in 1960 that the total value of all the gold and precious items present in the list would top $1,000,000 U.S.
The last sentence  of the Copper Scroll is an enigma inside the enigma:
“In a dry well at Kohlit… a copy of this document with its explanation … and an inventory of each and everything”
There is another Scroll, lost somewhere, that can explain the Copper one and provide more information about the immense treasure described on it.


Conclusion

It has been really interesting to explore the mystery of the Dead sea Scrolls, one of the most important archaeological findings of the History. Their value is as immense as a document of 2000 years ago,  and it is a sight to the past. But as University of North Carolina archaeologist Jodi Magness, said: “there are more interpretations than data” and Schiffman added: ”Popular books with new theories about Qumran sell”.
 Sometime in order to find new different theories and hypothesis, scholars have lost the richness of the documents themselves and have created controversies and business.   
The only thing that the adversaries seem to agree on is “Money is root of every problem”.  It must be written in some passages of the Scrolls!






Reference
‘Copper Scroll’ [image] Saint Paul’s Church Milwaukee, viewed 3 Jun 2011,
‘Manuscript’ [image] CNRS International Magazine, viewed 3 Jun 2011,
‘Who Wrote the Scrolls’, Maxwell Institute, viewed 3 Jun 2011,
Copper Scroll Project Jerusalem Post Article, The Copper Scroll Project, viewed 1 Jun 2011,
‘Christ the Lifegiver’ Logoi, viewed 3 Jun 2011,
‘Copper Scroll’ [image] San Diego Jewish World, viewed 3 Jun 2011,
Isrealarchaeology 2010, The Dead Sea Scrolls Conspiracy Theory, viewed 24 May 2011,

Greyshark09 2009, National Geographic - Riddles of the Bible: Dead Sea Scrolls 1/5, viewed 23 May 2011,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcCusw7qhgI&feature=related>

The Mystery of the Copper Scroll




Among all the Scrolls found in Qumran, more than 900 documents,  there is an anomaly, and unique scroll, different from all the others. It is made from different materials, the language in which it is written is not the same as the rest of the scrolls and even its content, is not related to all the other texts.  Professor Richard Freund said this is  "probably the most unique, the most important, and the least understood among all the Scrolls” . For this, it deserves a separate post!  
This is the Copper Scroll!
We have already said that the majority of the Scrolls was found by Bedouins. The copper scroll instead was discovered by an expedition sponsored by the Jordan Department of Antiquities. It is March 14th , 1952, when an archaeologist,  exploring Cave 3 at Qumran, found 15 new scrolls. The last one discovered that day, struck the attention of the archaeologist. In fact while all the others were made of parchment or papyrus, this scroll was written on metal: copper.

The discovery
When it was found, it was in two parts. Apparently when the scroll was being rolled up, the thin copper sheet snapped into two sections. After almost two-thousand years in the cave, the document was so badly oxidized that it would crumble if anyone attempted to open it. It was immediately clear that the corroded metal could not be unrolled by conventional means. Even while it was still wound up, though, it became apparent to scholars studying, what little text could be seen, that the scroll was hiding a sensational discovery: a list of treasures!
A 2000 years old treasure map was in the hands of scholars and archaeologists but they couldn’t open it without the risk of breaking the scroll and lose the document! What seemed to be an Indiana Jones movie adventure, was instead the real problem of scholar John Marco Allegro. After 5 years of discussions and debates on which method to use in order to preserve the manuscript from harm,  finally Allegro sent the Copper Scroll to  Manchester College of Technology in England  where Professor H. Wright Baker decided to cut the document into 23 strips.
 Allegro supervised the opening of the scroll and transcribed its contents immediately.

The Language
The first difference to be noticed was the language: different from other scrolls, but more similar to the Mishnaic Hebrew than the usual Hebrew. The orthography, with  an unusual style of writing was also not common, probably due to the fact that the author was writing  on the copper using a hammer and chisels. There is also the anomaly that seven of the location names are followed by a group of two or three Greek letters. Scholars have connected this particularity of the Scroll with Greek inventory, using similar “cataloguing” methods at the Greek Temple of Apollo. This similarity to the Greek inventories, would suggest that this scroll is in fact an authentic "temple inventory."
The translation of the scroll has been really difficult and it is still open to many interpretations.  This connection to the Greek world, and several anomalies in the writing, suggested that maybe the author of the copper roll was an  illiterate scribe who did not speak the language in which the scroll was written, or at least was not well familiar with. We can assume that the writer was recreating another copy of the scroll.  As Professor Milik said:  “The scribe uses the forms and ligature of the cursive script along with formal letters, and often confuses graphically several letters of the formal hand." As a result, the full meaning of the text is still a mystery.

The Contents
“In the fortress which is in the Vale of Achor, forty cubits under the steps entering to the east: a money chest and it […] contents, of a weight of seventeen talents."
Who could resist to the tentation to live everything and go in search of the lost treasure after reading a sentence like this one, in an 2000 years old scroll?
The document is fascinating, and it is composed of 64 bullets, each pointing to a location where the treasure might be located.
The following is an English translation of other texts:
In the court of [unreadable], nine cubits under the southern corner: gold and silver vessels for tithe, sprinkling basins, cups, sacrificial bowls, libations vessels; in all, six hundred and nine.
In the cave that is next to [unreadable] belonging to the House of Hakkoz, dig six cubits. There are six bars of gold.
Some of the places mentioned in the scroll are easy to locate in  a modern map: Jericho, the valley of Achor and Mt Gerizim still exist and the treasure described consists of vast quantities of gold and silver, as well as many coins and vessels. It is difficult to assess the value of what is described, since we are not sure what the weights in the scroll are actually equivalent to, but it was estimated in 1960 that the total would top $1,000,000 U.S.
Before you decide to send a resignation mail to your boss, and to buy a ticket for the middle east playing the explorer, I have to tell you that many of the hiding place don’t exist anymore or are very difficult to locate. The Salomon Canal, the well of Milham and Matia’s courtyard are hiding gold garments and treasures but there is no idea where they could be.  





The last sentence  
On the Internet  the mystery and the charm of the Copper scroll is amplified in many web pages and sites. One particularly interesting website  is the Copper Scroll web Project, where you can find more information, newsletters and articles about this copper treasure map.
The last sentence of the Copper Scroll is legendary.
“In a dry well at Kohlit… a copy of this document with its explanation … and an inventory of each and everything”
There is another Scroll, lost somewhere, that can explain the Copper one and provide more information about the immense treasure described on it.
Who wants to be the new Indiana Jones?



Reference
    
The Mysterious treasure of the Copper Scroll, The Unmuseum, viewed 1 Jun 2011,
Copper Scroll Project Jerusalem Post Article, The Copper Scroll Project, viewed 1 Jun 2011,
Copper Scroll, West Semitic Research Project, viewed 2 Jun 2011,
aboumyriam2000, 2008, The Mystery of the Copper Scroll, viewed 3 Jun 2011,
Kohn Levitt, R 2008, Ancient copper scroll: wild goose chase or golden ticket?,  San Diego Natura History Museum, viewed 2 Jun 2011,
Frequently Asked Question, The Orion Center for the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls,  viewed 3 Jun 2011,
John Marco Allegro, Wikipedia, viewed 3 Jun 2011, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Marco_Allegro>
25 fascinating facts Dead sea scrolls, CenturyOne BookStore, viewed 2 Jun 2011. <http://www.centuryone.com/25dssfacts.html>
‘Copper Scroll’ [image] San Diego Jewish World, viewed 3 Jun 2011,
‘Copper Scroll’ [image] The Dead Sea Scrolls controversy in San Diego, viewed 3 Jun 2011,
‘The Scroll Cut’ [image] The Copper Scroll Project,  viewed 3 Jun 2011,
<http://www.copper-scroll-project.com/>