The Dead Sea Scrolls
Eibert Tigchelaar
In a comprehensive sense, the Dead Sea Scrolls include all texts from Wadi
Daliyeh, Ketef Jericho, Qumran, Wadi en-Nar, Wadi Ghweir, Wadi
Murabba{at, Wadi Sdeir, NaFal Arugot, NaFalμever/WadiÒeiyâl, NaFal
Mishmar, NaFalÒe{elim, Masada, as well as Khirbet Mird. In common us-
age, and in this essay, the term “Dead Sea Scrolls” refers specifically to the
texts found between 1947 and 1956 in the caves near Qumran, close to the
northwestern shore of the Dead Sea. Some fragments that are reported to
have been found in caves near Qumran may in fact stem from other sites
that were discovered by the Bedouin in the same period, notably Wadi
Murabba{at and NaFalμever/WadiÒeiyâl. Likewise, the origin of some
fragments in private collections is unknown.
The importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for the history of early Judaism
lies in the combination of the size, the antiquity, and the nature of the cor-
pus. The scrolls are by far the largest collection of Jewish religious texts from
the Second Temple period, preserving fragments of more than a hundred
different religious compositions, most of which were hitherto unknown. For
many different aspects of Judaism, the Dead Sea Scrolls provide the first lit-
erary evidence. Thus, for example, the corpus contains the oldest Hebrew
and Greek biblical manuscripts, the first Aramaic translations of biblical
books, the oldesttefillin,the earliest liturgies for fixed prayers, the oldest
nonbiblical halakic works, as well as the oldest exorcistic prayers. In many
cases we find hitherto-unknown precursors to or roots for phenomena
found in rabbinic Judaism, such as the hymns embedded in the Hekhalot lit-
erature. At the same time, some scrolls attest to Second Temple practices and
beliefs that did not become part of later normative Judaism, which is why
they sometimes are called sectarian. This goes, for example, for so-called rule204EERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:04:03 PM