The Qumran Con

Why did Professor Norman Golb of the famed Oriental Institute need to be silenced? Why did a small clique monopolize access and publication rights to the Dead Sea Scrolls for more than four decades? Why does the truth matter about where the scrolls came from? And what do these questions have to do with scholarly ethics, freedom of speech, and the criminal justice system? In this documented memoir, Raphael Golb exposes the inside story of the Dead Sea Scrolls controversy and its scandals. He describes how he himself became involved in the controversy—and ended up fighting to stay out of Rikers Island. For over seventy years, the true historical significance of the scrolls has been obscured by the institutional influence of a threatened scholarly establishment. Never were the stakes made clearer than when powerful Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau took action to protect the reputation of well-connected scroll figures, both in New York and across the United States. Raphael Golb’s memoir of his journey through the system—in a case that almost reached the Supreme Court—poses the question of where we stand with the First Amendment today. While reigniting the great debate over who wrote the scrolls, Golb’s account also sheds light on broader issues involving academic revolutions, censorship, and how easily power can be abused in a democratic society. “Institutions and museums, international conferences and books may ostracize the scholar who transmits a new message ... A crisis emerges ... Eventually ... the new paradigm gradually gains adherents and replaces the old.” — Joel Kraemer (2012 essay on Norman Golb)

Revised version of the author's thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Manchester, 2008.

Magness (early Judaism, U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), who has extensive archaeological experience in the area, has written a popular account of the archaeology, meaning, and controversies surrounding the Dead Seas Scrolls and the archaeological site of Qumran where they were found. Without sacrificing content, Magness turns this story into a fascinating page-turner. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

All the evidence for daily, sabbath, and festival prayers in the Qumran scrolls is analysed in detail, document by document. On the basis of formal features and social-liturgical setting, these prayers are compared with each other to uncover divergent prayer traditions. Comparative material beyond the scrolls is used to reassess their place in the development of Jewish prayer. Evidence for prayers of different origin found at Qumran is important for reconsidering the nature of the scrolls, the community(s) which used them, and the history of Jewish liturgy. For several texts significant new reconstructions are offered.

This book is a comprehensive treatment of prophecy and revelation in the Dead Sea Scrolls. It examines the reconfiguration of biblical prophecy and revelation, the portrait of prophecy at the end of days, and the evidence for ongoing prophetic activity.

This book provides the first comprehensive treatment of the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls from the caves of Qumran. These nearly one hundred scrolls open a window onto a vibrant period of Jewish history for which we previously had few historical sources. Scholars and advanced students will find a general introduction to the corpus, detailed, richly-illustrated profiles of individual scrolls, and up-to-date studies of their Aramaic language and scribal practices. The goal of the book is to foster and support further study of these scrolls against the historical backdrop of early Judaism and ancient Mediterranean scribal cultures.