The Mystery and Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Fifty years ago, a shepherd rummaging through caves surrounding the Dead Sea discovered a number of scrolls and scroll fragments that provided a glimpse into Judaism in the years between the takeover of Jerusalem by Pompeii in 64 B.C. and the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple by Rome in A.D. 70. In his engaging new book, Shanks, founder and editor of Biblical Archaeology Review, examines the history and significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Part detective story and part historical narrative, his book reveals the behind-the-scenes race to discover more scrolls that preoccupied both biblical archeologists and Bedouin, as well as the political intrigues between Israeli and American scholars that kept the scrolls from being translated and available to a larger public for more than 40 years. Most important, however, is Shanks's overview of the question of the authorship of the scrolls. The popular scholarly view on this topic is that the Essenes, a Jewish ascetic community, wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls. Using archeological evidence as well as literary and historical criticism, Shanks conducts a survey of the major opinions on the matter to conclude that ""if it weren't for the proximity of the scrolls to Qumran we would never think of Qumran as the site of an isolated religious community."" Finally, Shanks contends that the scrolls are far less important for our understanding of Christianity and than for the glimpse they offer into Judaism between 250 B.C. and A.D. 70. Lively prose and lucid critical insights into one of the most fascinating chapters of modern history make Shanks's book a must read for armchair biblical historians and archeologists. (Apr.)