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orion-list Edinburgh volume announcement

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Timothy H. Lim, et al. (eds) The Dead Sea Scrolls in their 
Historical Context (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, forthcoming March 
2000).


"On 5-6 May 1998, the Faculty of Divinity of the University of 
Edinburgh hosted an international conference entitled, 'The Dead 
Sea Scrolls in their Historical Context' at the historic site of New 
College on Mound Place in Edinburgh.  Five months after the 
Jubilee of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1997, and in the 
wake of numerous fiftieth anniversary celebrations world wide, this 
gathering sought to begin the second half century of scholarly 
research by situating these most important ancient manuscripts 
within the context of Judaism in the Second Temple period.

The guiding issue around which the theme of the conference 
revolved is the marginality or centrality of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  In 
particular, two aspects were addressed.  First, how central or 
marginal was the community that owned these scrolls?  Most 
scholars, though certainly not all, believe that the Qumran 
community who owned these scrolls are to be identified with the 
Essene sect known from the classical sources^×primarily those of 
Philo, Pliny and Josephus.  Is this community one of several fringe 
sectarian groups, about whom we now happen to know more than 
we do about others?  Formulating the question this way also begs 
the question of what we know in the first place about the religious 
practices and theology of the ordinary Jew in Second Temple 
Judaism.  Was the sacrificial system of the Jerusalem cultus 
'normative' or 'common'?

Second, the phenomenon of the Dead Sea Scrolls, fuelled as it is 
by concentrated academic interest and widespread media 
coverage, raises historiographical issues that are not normally part 
of the study of other ancient documents.  With the sustained 
publication of numerous articles and books about the scrolls, one 
might inadvertently slip into the mistake of assuming that all Jews 
in the Second Temple period were carved in the image of the 
Qumran-Essene sectarian.  Has our picture of nascent Judaism 
been skewed as a result of the chance discovery and intensive 
research into the Dead Sea Scrolls." (excerpt from the Introduction 
by Timothy Lim)


I. The Qumran Community, Essenes and other Sects  

1. 'The Dead Sea Sect and other Jews: Commonalities, Overlaps 	
and Differences' by E. P. Sanders

2. 'The Wicked Priest or the Liar?' by Timothy H. Lim

3. 'What Did You Go Out to See?  John the Baptist, the Scrolls 
and Late Second Temple Period' by J. Ian MacDonald


II. The Qumran Biblical Texts and the Masoretic Text

4. ''The Qumran Biblical Scrolls--the Scriptures of Late Second 
Temple Judaism' by Eugene Ulrich

5. 'Qumran Evidence of a Biblical Standard Text and for Non-
Standard and Parabiblical Texts' by Julio Trebolle Barrera

6. 'E Pluribus Unum: Textual Variety and Definitive Interpretation in 
the Qumran Scrolls' by George J. Brooke


III. Sectarian Law and Normative Jewish Law 

7. 'Halakah and Sectarianism in the Qumran Scrolls' by Lawrence 
H. Schiffman

8. 'The Story of Joseph and the Book of Jubilees' by Calum 
Carmichael

9. 'Sabbatical Crhonologies in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related 
Literature' by James C. VanderKam

10. 'Qumran Calendars: Theory and Practice' by Sacha Stern

11. 'The Place of the Book of Jubilees at Qumran and Beyond' by 
Charlotte Hempel


IV. Theology of the Qumran Community, Second Temple Judaism 
and Early Christianity

12. 'The Nature of Messianism in the Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls' 
by John J. Collins

13. 'Judaisms in the Dead Sea Scrolls: The Case of the Messiah' 
by Philip R. Davies

14. 'The Branch in the Last Days: Observations on the New 
Covenant before and after the Messiah' by Hakan Ulfgard

15. 'The Dead Sea Scrolls and Merkavah Mysticism' by James C. 
Davila


Avital Pinnick, Ph.D.                             tel: 972-2-588-2063
Chief of Publications                             fax: 972-2-588-3584
Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Hebrew University
http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il - DSS bibliography updated weekly
For private reply, e-mail to Avital Pinnick <mspinnik@mscc.huji.ac.il>
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