Dead Sea discovery

Robert Letellier welcomes a new edition of the Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Selection of Original Manuscripts, translated and edited by Gerza Ventres, Folio Society £24.98
AFTER THE discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb by Howard Carter in 1922, there has been no more exciting archeological find than that of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 by a young Bedouin shepherd. When these Hebrew and Aramaic writings (and other fragments discovered later) were found to contain parts of all but one of the hooks of the Old Testament, it seemed as though a new dawn of enlightenment would break for biblical studies, that new insights would be gained into the nature and origins of the sacred texts, the Jewish religion, and the emergence of Christianity itself.
The central point was the emergence of biblical texts nearly a thousand years older than any previously known: the Jewish practice of carefully replacing any sacred manuscript in liturgical use meant that the most complete version was the copy of the Old Testament kept in St Petersburg. Now further comparative paleography could open new perspectives on the origins, nature and dating of the ancient texts. When subsequent excavations revealed writings relating to a whole ancient community, the level of excitement rose.
Huge controversy grew around the origins of these documents, but most scholars believed that they had been hidden in the caves by an ascetic Jewish brotherhood called the Essenes before the destruction of Qumran by the Romans in 68AD. No one had retrieved them after those cataclysmic events, and the manuscripts had remained undisturbed for nearly 2,000 years.
The matter has been further complicated by the political issues attendant on the discovery, reclaiming, housing, editing and publication of the find. This is worthy of a book in itself. Only in 1991 was general access possible, and the painfully slow and hitherto restricted editing given a much-needed boost.
The advantages of this new edition are very considerable. From the mass of material, a careful selection has been made and translated by Geza Vermes, the Professor Emeri tus of Jewish Studies at ' Oxford, who has specialised in the Judaism of the New Testament era, and, in his.. books on Jesus, done much to widen and strengthen a serious reappraisal of relations between the two religions. Prof Vermes's translations are known for their clarity and accessibility, and his history of long association with the Scrolls makes him a highly dependable choice for this presentation, in which scholarship and ease of approach are effortlessly combined.
The introduction alone: covers 65 pages, and provides a comprehensive survey of the complex history of research from 1947 to the present, the Essenes and the Qumran Community, and the Essenes in Jewish history (200 BC to 70 AD). Added to this is a map, a chronology of the pert-. nent period, a listing of the sources and major editions of Qumran manuscripts, and a general bibliography. Further, there are nine colour and 14 black and white illustrations. All of this provides the reader with a comprehensive package, which when added to the fine paper, printing and format, makes this an ideal introdue• tion to this famous find.
If the reader is hoping to ' discover something sensa-' tional, it might come as a disappointment that there is nothing too out of the ordinary in these texts. But for the ‘, scholar, there are new perspectives and nuances on, say, the ; use of scripture texts in the New Testament, the vexed question of John the Baptist (did he belong to this community?), and, of course, the possible relation of Jesus to the community and the Scrolls themselves (is he synonymous with the unidentified "Teacher of Righteousness" mentioned so often?).
At the end of it all, the main contribution of the Dead Sea Scrolls has been inconclusive, and at best reminds us how ignorant we still are about sectarian Judaism at the turn of the era. Vermes himself assures us that "a comparative study of Qumran and primitive Christianity cannot fail to improve our understanding of both'. There is always a tendency to strain the limits in the field of comparative studies, but there can be no doubt that this wonderful discovery in the Judaean desert remains fraught with rich potential for new understanding of Jesus and his times.