Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? (The Search for the Secret of Qumran) - Hardcover

Golb, Norman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 002544395X ISBN 13: 9780025443952

Publisher: Scribner, 1995

Synopsis

Theorizing that the Dead Sea Scrolls were written by Jews in Jerusalem and smuggled out, a scholar backs his claims with handwritings, archaeological findings, and knowledge of ancient Jewish history. 35,000 first printing. BOMC, QPB, History, Newbridge Natural Science, & Reader's Subscription Alt.

About this title

About the Author:

Dr. Norman Golb is the first holder of the Rosenberger Chair in Jewish History and Civilization at the University of Chicago.

From Booklist:

There has been a spate of new books about the Dead Sea scrolls since their recent "liberation" from the small group of scholars who were originally granted exclusive access to the historic documents. The prevalent theory among those first researchers was that the scrolls were the work of the Essenes, an ascetic sect that presumably had a settlement near where the scrolls were found. Golb, a professor of Jewish history and civilization at the University of Chicago, has a different theory. He claims that the scrolls were the work of many different groups and were moved to the Judaean wilderness during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. He also argues that the supposed Essene monastery was actually a Jewish fortress. Golb's scholarly credentials are both a plus and a minus. He obviously has plenty of archaeological and historical evidence to back up his claims, but he also writes like an academician, and despite the book's catchy title and subtitle, it will take more than the casual reader to plow through Golb's dense prose. Public libraries that can only afford one scrolls tome should stick with Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), edited by Hershel Shanks, but those with active religion or archaeology collections will want this one for its provocative assertions. Ilene Cooper

About this edition

• Publisher: Scribner
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 002544395X
• ISBN 13: 9780025443952
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 464