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Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?: The Search for the Secret of Qumran (1995) is a book by Norman Golb.

Abstract

"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."--Publisher description.

"The scrolls have been the subject of unending fascination and controversy ever since their discovery in the Qumran caves beginning in 1947. Intensifying the debate, Professor Norman Golb now fundamentally challenges those who argue that the writings belonged to a small, desert-dwelling fringe sect. Instead, he shows why the scrolls must have been the work of many groups in ancient Judaism, kept in libraries in Jerusalem and smuggled out of the capital just before the Romans attacked in A.D. 70. He eloquently portrays the spiritual fervor of the people who lived and wrote in the period between the great writings of the Hebrew Bible and the birth of the New Testament. Golb backs up his ground-breaking interpretation with a careful reading of the texts and the archaeological findings. Bringing to scroll studies a vast knowledge of ancient history, he describes the scrolls' rich diversity of ideas, and offers a new interpretation of their significance for the evolution of both Judaism and Christianity."--Publisher description.

"Since their discovery in the Qumran caves beginning in 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls have been the object of intense fascination and extreme controversy. Here Professor Norman Golb intensifies the debate over the scrolls' origins, arguing that they were not the work of a small, desert-dwelling fringe sect, as other scholars have claimed, but written by different groups of Jews and the smuggled out of Jerusalem's libraries before the Roman seige of A.D 70. Golb also unravels the mystery behind the scholarly monopoly that controlled the scrolls for many years, and discusses his role as a key player in the successful struggle to make the scrolls widely available to both scholars and students. And he pleads passionately for an academic politics and a renewed commitment to the search for the truth in scroll scholarship."--Publisher description.

Editions

Published in New York, NY: Scribner: 1995.

Translations

• Qumran: wer schrieb die Schriftrollen vom Toten Meer? (1994 Golb), book (German ed.)

• Quem escreveu os manuscritos do Mar Morto? (1996 Golb / Sousa Moreira), book (Portuguese ed.)

• Shikai bunsho wa dare ga kaita ka? (1998 Golb), book (Japanese ed.)

• Qui a écrit les manuscrits de la Mer Morte? (1998 Golb), book (French ed.)

Contents

• The Qumran Plateau
• The manuscripts of the Jews
• 1947: the first scroll discoveries
• The Qumran-Essene theory: a paradigm reconsidered
• The Copper Scroll, the Masada manuscripts, and the siege of Jerusalem
• Scroll origins: Rengstorf's theory and Edmund Wilson's response
• The Temple Scroll, the Acts of Torah, and the Qumranologists' dilemma
• Power politics and the collapse of the scrolls monopoly
• Myth and science in the world of Qumranology
• The deepening scrolls controversy
• The New York conference and some academic intrigues
• The importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls
• Judaism, Christianity, and the Scrolls

External links

• Google Books