Desert Discoveries

Describes the behavior of thirteen different animals--including jackrabbits, roadrunners, tarantulas, and rattlesnakes--during a day in the desert.

Composed at the end of the editorial process, this provides a general overview of and introduction to the thirty eight volumes of the Discoveries in the Judaean Desert series and includes several indexes to the whole series.

At first glance, the desert seems dry, big and empty. But upon a second look, ! During the heat of the day, kangaroo rats sleep in their burrows while lizards sunbathe on rocks. At night, while roadrunners rest, bats wheel through the sky and coyotes howl at the moon. Full-color illustrations.

Some people grow up in a wonderful family. I didn't. My book is a collection of poems ranging from rage to tenderness. I've also included background information about the poems, so you'll know why I had to write what I did. You'll learn a lot about me, my family, and my perspective on life. Go ahead. Flip the book open. I think you'll like what you read—I've included something for everyone.

J. T. MILIK was a Polish priest who, after brilliant studies in Rome, worked in Jerusalem from 1952, first at the ƒcole Biblique et ArchŽologique Franiaise, and later in connection with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. He took part in the exploration of the Qumr‰n. From the beginning, he collaborated in the work of publication. With Father D. BarthŽlemy he published the fragments from Cave I, Qumr‰n Cave I (Discoveries in the Judaean Desert), Oxford 1955; he was the most active member of the international team, which prepared for publication the considerable collection from Cave IV. The fragments from Cave V and the copper rolls from Cave III were entrusted to him. He would eventually publish the Hebrew and Aramaic documents from Murabba'‰t; he published some fragments from Hirbet Mird and from unidentified caves in the south. He had been given direct access to all the documents still unpublished, which were kept together in the Palestine Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem. In short, this work was written by a specialist who knew better than anyone the places and documents of which he spoke.

This volume charts the extraordinary developments witnessed over the last 50 years of the 20th century, since the chance discovery in 1947 of biblical scrolls in a cave in the vicinity of the Dead Sea. This collection of article represents cutting-edge research by an international team of scholars. Together, they chart the findings and controversies sparked off by the discovery and publication of some 900 scrolls which have transformed our understanding of the state of the biblical text at the turn of the last millennium. With subjects encompassing rewritten scriptures, canonical development, and the ramifications of the Qumran discoveries for modern textual criticism and the Bible today, this volume should hold something for both scolar and layperson alike.

The status of the Christian Old Testament as originally Hebrew scripture had certain theoretical implications for many early Christians. While they based their exegesis on Greek translations and considered the LXX inspired in its own right, the Fathers did acknowledge the Hebrew origins of their Old Testament and in some ways defined their Bible accordingly. Hebrew scripture exerted its influence on patristic biblical theory especially in regard to issues of the canon, language, and text of the Bible. For many Fathers, only documents thought to be originally composed in Hebrew could be considered canonical, the Hebrew language was considered the primordial language subsequently confined to Israel, and the LXX, as the most faithful translation, corresponded precisely to the Hebrew text.