Click here (wsrp) for a brief introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls, the famous ancient library of Hebrew & Aramaic Biblical (and non-Biblical) texts...
What glimpses might we gain into the Qumran community that copied and preserved these texts, according to the website?
5 comments:
Very interesting site. The Qumaran
community was similar to the Essenes, which would make them scholarly/historians. Apparently they were literate. Thanks to their ability to save this information we now have a great treasure and ability to learn more about the bible.
Lisa
This is a great site. We can get a glimpse into how the Qumran community lived in the Qumran caves and what their beliefs were during this time period. This specific community is believed to be similar to the Essenes, known to be one of the four Jewish "philosophies" that were described by Josephus, a Jewish historian from first century CE. There are also supposed to be similarities to other groups that were also mentioned by Josephus, like the Sadducess, the Pharisees, and the Zealots. We can fully, for the most part, understand about the development of early Judaism and gained insight in the culture from which Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity were formed.
Saryn
The preservation of these scrolls allows scholars to looks at ancient Jewish life and text through the lens of primary sources. These scrolls serve as a first hand account of their faith and, combined with the articles of pottery and other materials found, can give us a way to postulate what conditions might have been in their day. These understandings also give us a place from which to trace the origin and evolution of modern Judaism.
Sophie
Through the saving of these scrols we now have a way to verify the more modern translations of the bible. I find it very encouraging that the ancient people of Qumran realized the importance of what they had transcribed.
Bob
One of the most (of many) remarkable aspects about the Dead Sea Scrolls is that they preserve a genuinely ANCIENT community's (c.2ndBCE to 1stCE) 'voice' regarding their participation in the emerging scriptural tradition. We gain a glimpse into their values and priorities based on what they wrote, what they copied, and what they saved.
pdk
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