HERE'S MORE ON THE OTTAWA DEAD SEA SCROLLS EXHIBITION. My student, Ian Werrett, points me to this article in the Presbyterian Record by Michael Munnik (who is, incidentally, the spouse of a former St. Andrews Divinity student):

Scrolls come to Canada
Canadian Museum of Civilization exhibits Dead Sea treasures
by Michael Munnik

Peter Flint's passion for ancient Jewish texts is infectious. He doesn't fit the stereotype of a research scholar -- aloof, awkward or boring. In fact, his enthusiasm is almost comical.

"I have held the oldest copy of Psalms in the world in my hands," Dr. Flint says. "It's like holding Wayne Gretzky's very first hockey stick."

That's a lofty comparison indeed. But Flint, a professor at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C., is something of a Gretzky himself in scrolls research. He is one of only three professors from Canadian universities working with an international group of scholars, editing the scrolls and bringing their secrets to the world. The others are Dr. Martin Abegg, also from Trinity Western, and Dr. Eileen Schuller from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.

Flint says Canada scored a hat trick with an exhibit currently showing at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Que., across the river from Ottawa. Three of the Dead Sea scrolls are on display until April 12 alongside artifacts dating as far back as 1200 BC. Two of the scrolls -- the War Scroll and Isaiah B (a copy of the Book of Isaiah) -- have never before left Israel. And the Community Rule scroll has remained in Israel for almost 50 years since its purchase from an American collection.

It was a coup for the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History, which arranged with the Israel Museum in Jerusalem to bring these pieces to Canada. They first showed in Montreal and will return to Israel when the Ottawa exhibit is finished. "We're really very lucky," says Flint. "This exhibit will put Canada on the map."

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