Dead Sea Scrolls at Seventy: Clear a Path in the Wilderness : Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, Cosponsored by the University of Vienna, New York University, the Israel Antiquities Authority, and the Israel Museum

The Sixteenth Orion Symposium celebrated seventy years of Dead Sea Scrolls research under the theme, “Clear a path in the wilderness!” (Isaiah 40:3). Papers use the wilderness rubric to address the self-identification of the Qumran group; dimensions of religious experience reflected in the Dead Sea writings; biblical interpretation as shaper and conveyor of that experience; the significance of the Qumran texts for critical biblical scholarship; points of contact with the early Jesus movement; and new developments in understanding the archaeology of the Qumran caves. The volume both honors past insights and charts new paths for the future of Qumran studies.

Esther G. Chazon, Professor Emerita, Hebrew Literature, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is the outgoing Director of the Orion Center and serves on the Steering Committee of the International Organization for Qumran Studies and the Editorial Board of Dead Sea Discoveries.
Ruth A. Clements, ThD (1997) Harvard University, is the Orion Center’s Head of Publications. She coedited The Textual History of the Bible from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Biblical Manuscripts of the Vienna Papyrus Collection (Brill, 2023).

Armin Lange is professor of Second Temple Judaism and Antisemitism Studies at the University of Vienna. He has published on the Hebrew Bible, its textual criticism, Second Temple Judaism, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the religious history of antisemitism.

Adolfo D. Roitman, PhD (1993) Hebrew University, is Curator of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Head of the Shrine of the Book at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. He publishes on the Scrolls and early Judaism, including The Dead Sea Scrolls and Contemporary Culture (Brill, 2011).

Lawrence H. Schiffman, PhD (1974) Brandeis University, is Global Distinguished Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University. He publishes on the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient Judaism, and rabbinic literature, most recently co-editing The Temple Scroll (Brill, 2021).

Pnina Shor served as an archaeologist at the Israel Antiquities Authority from 1978–2020, first as field archaeologist, then in managerial roles, and from 2010 as Curator and Head of Dead Sea Scrolls Projects.