WHAT ARE THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS AND WHY DO THEY MATTER?

You know the Scrolls are important . . . but you don't really know why.

Sure, there are plenty of scholarly volumes on the Dead Sea Scrolls, full of indexes, footnotes, and jargon for those in the know. But what if you're not a specialist? What if you just want a basic understanding of what the Dead Sea Scrolls are, where they came from, and why they're so important? That's where this little book comes in.

David Noel Freedman and Pam Fox Kuhlken here offer an informed, inside look at these significant ancient texts. Full of humor and behind-the-scenes glimpses into research on the Scrolls, What Are the Dead Sea Scrolls and Why Do They Matter? is a fascinating, accessible guidebook -- perfect for any reader seeking a brief, quality introduction to this inscrutable subject.

Answers a gamut of questions from the general to the paranoid to the somewhat cynical -- for example:

• What are the Dead Sea Scrolls all about?
• Who wrote them, why, and in what languages?
• Have the Scrolls changed our understanding of any passages in the Bible?
• Who's hiding stolen fragments?
• Do the Scrolls tell us when the world will end?
• How has technology improved our ability to study the Scrolls?
• How much would a Scroll fragment sell for on eBay today?

David Noel Freedman holds the Endowed Chair in Hebrew Biblical studies at the University of California in San Diego. He is the author or editor of numerous publications, including the Anchor Bible Project, the Eerdmans Critical Commentary, and the Bible in Its World Series and has been a Dead Sea Scrolls scholar for over fifty years.

Pam Fox Kuhlken is assistant professor of English at Arizona Western College and teaches in the graduate Creative Writing Program at Perelandra College.