The Qumran ConHT Todd Bolen at the Bible Places Blog.A Dead Sea Scrolls Memoir
by Raphael Golb
Formats
E-Book $3.99
Softcover $35.99
Hardcover $56.99
Book Details
Language : English Publication Date : 6/17/2024
Format : E-Book Dimensions : N/A Page Count : 524 ISBN : 9781665758284 Format : Softcover Dimensions : 6x9 Page Count : 524 ISBN : 9781665752848 Format : Hardcover Dimensions : 6x9 Page Count : 524 ISBN : 9781665758291
About the Book
Why did Professor Norman Golb of the famed Oriental Institute need to be silenced? Why did a small clique monopolize access and publication rights to the Dead Sea Scrolls for more than four decades? Why does the truth matter about where the scrolls came from?
And what do these questions have to do with scholarly ethics, freedom of speech, and the criminal justice system?
In this documented memoir, Raphael Golb exposes the inside story of the Dead Sea Scrolls controversy and its scandals. He describes how he himself became involved in the controversy—and ended up fighting to stay out of Rikers Island.
For over seventy years, the true historical significance of the scrolls has been obscured by the institutional influence of a threatened scholarly establishment. Never were the stakes made clearer than when powerful Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau took action to protect the reputation of well-connected scroll figures, both in New York and across the United States.
Raphael Golb’s memoir of his journey through the system—in a case that almost reached the Supreme Court—poses the question of where we stand with the First Amendment today. While reigniting the great debate over who wrote the scrolls, Golb’s account also sheds light on broader issues involving academic revolutions, censorship, and how easily power can be abused in a democratic society.
“Institutions and museums, international conferences and books may ostracize the scholar who transmits a new message … A crisis emerges … Eventually … the new paradigm gradually gains adherents and replaces the old.” — Joel Kraemer (2012 essay on Norman Golb)
I followed the developments in the Raphael Golb internet impersonation case for years and years, because of its sad connection with the Dead Sea Scrolls. For the many posts, start here and follow the links.
In 2011, shortly after Golb's conviction and before his appeal (which I noted was in planning), I published an essay on "The Golb Affair" in Religion in the News. It gives background to the case and my own analysis of the situation at the time. For a legal analysis of the case which came near the end of the appeals process, see here. Over the years I linked to other legal analyses from time to time.
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