Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Still looking for those new Dead Sea Scrolls

OPERATION SCROLL: Experts Racing Against Antiquities Robbers in Hunt for Dead Sea Scrolls. Recent finds have stirred fresh excitement and archaeologists are probing higher and deeper than before, as hundreds of caves remain unexcavated (Reuters via Haaretz).

This article has some rehashing of old news, but it does give some information about a "Cave 52b" that is new to me. It also interviews some people and expresses hope that the new, so far undiscovered, Dead Sea Scrolls may help clarify who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls and illuminate the text of the mysterious Copper Scroll. That would be nice.

It doesn't seem likely that any major scroll finds remain in the Dead Sea area, but I'm still glad they are looking. They may well find some small scroll fragments. And maybe more. Who knows?

Background on Operation Scroll is here and links. I have suggested a couple of other places to watch for new scroll fragments (the Timna Valley here and links; Megiddo here and links). But both are long shots.

Background on the "Jerusalem papyrus," which could well be a forgery, is here and links. And for many past PaleoJudaica posts on the Copper Scroll, start here (cf. here) and follow the links.

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