THE ECOLE BIBLIQUE (The School of Biblical and Archaeological Studies) in East Jerusalem is profiled in the Jerusalem Post ("The brothers' work"). Excerpt:

A few years later, the Dominican Order decided to open a biblical institute in which the Scriptures could be studied in the land of their birth. Called L'Ecole Biblique (The School of Biblical and Archeological Studies), the now prestigious facility was the very first research institute of its kind in the Middle East. All of the teachers at the Jerusalem institute are Dominican monks in residence; all of the priory's monks are teachers who specialize in biblical history, archeology and ancient languages like Syriac, Phoenician and Aramaic at the highest levels. Although they must teach their lessons in French, there are monks at the priory from Mexico, Portugal, Poland and Ireland.

WHEN I entered the light and airy priory for the very first time, I was struck by the sense of tranquility imparted by its design. I was also fascinated by several of the artifacts along the walls. A metallic copy of the Copper Scroll, the only Dead Sea Scroll found in situ at Qumran, hangs just inside the entrance. The original was unearthed by Dominicans from the Ecole Biblique in 1952, during one of the school's many digs. As a matter of course, it was presented to the reigning Jordanian government, which permitted the order to make a perfect facsimile by pressing soft copper against the original.

But it was the library that was most impressive. Located in the basement, enclosed within stone walls over a century old, it reminded me of my college days at the splendid, subterranean University of Chicago library. I could happily have spent weeks here, leafing through the library's 140,000 volumes. A few date back to 15th-century Spain and subjects range from New Testament material to archeology and hieroglyphics. Old-timers say that Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the father of modern Hebrew, browsed this very library. He probably even perused an early edition of one of the books I saw on display: A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

I stayed in the Ecole Biblique for about a month in 1988 and again for a couple of weeks in 1990, both times when I was editing Dead Sea Scrolls. The library there is indeed a wonder. It has everything and there a marvelous index of the holdings that allows you to look up articles by biblical verse covered.

One nitpick of the article regarding the Copper Scroll. I think what the author was trying to say was that the Copper Scroll is the only complete scroll to be discovered in situ at Qumran by archaeologists. But they did excavate many other scroll fragments there.

CORRECTION: Sorry, my memory was deceiving me. In 1990 I stayed at the Albright Institute, not the Ecole Biblique. They are both in East Jerusalem. I'm pretty sure I did consult the Ecole's library during that trip though.