SAMUEL IWRY has passed away at age ninety-three:

(JTA) - Hebrew scholar dies at 93

Hebrew scholar Samuel Iwry, an authority on the Dead Sea Scrolls, died Saturday in Baltimore at age 93. Iwry wrote the first doctoral dissertation on the scrolls, which shed light on Judaism and the origins of Christianity. He also was one of the world's leading Hebrew scholars. Born in Poland, Iwry was a direct descendant of the Ba'al Shem Tov, the founder of Chasidism.

May his memory be for a blessing.

There's an obituary in the Miami Herald. Excerpt:

. . . he began work on doctoral studies at the Johns Hopkins University with William Foxwell Albright, the noted Orientalist and archaeologist.

''With his mentor, Professor Albright, he was the first scholar to identify and authenticate the Dead Sea Scrolls, their antiquity and significance, and wrote the first doctoral dissertation on the scrolls,'' the son said.

Dr. Iwry -- who spoke five Semitic languages, five European languages as well as Latin and Greek -- joined the Hopkins faculty in 1951 and was professor of Near Eastern studies. He retired in 1991.

His autobiography, To Wear the Dust of War: From Warsaw to Shanghai to the Promised Land, will be published in August.

UPDATE: More here.