Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Toto · 06-19-2007, 12:57 AM

Armchair archeologists can explore Qumran virtually

Quote:

According to its "visualization" and the research of numerous scholars, the UCLA team concluded that the original 20,150-square-foot structure, built around 160 B.C.E., consisted of a two-story building and four-story tower, and was designed as a fortress.

The fortress was abandoned after some time, perhaps because it was no longer needed for defensive purposes. The site was reoccupied in 130 BCE, apparently by the Essenes, who began to repurpose and expand the place for their own communal needs.

Over the years they added a large dining hall, a pottery production plant, and, most importantly, the scriptorium where the scrolls were written.

Virtual Qumran - the Qumran Visualization Project will open June 29, 2007 in conjunction with The Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibition at the San Diego Natural History Museum.

Toto · 06-19-2007, 01:16 AM

This is not without controvery.

Fact and Fiction in Current Exhibitions of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Posted by Charles Gadda on Jim West's blog

Quote:

In an appendix at the end of the article, Golb analyzes the San Diego museum’s statements concerning a “virtual reality” film it plans to project on a giant screen in its auditorium, in which the museum apparently plans to minimize the significance of the conclusions of the official IAA (Magen & Peleg) team, by calmly reconciling those conclusions with the Qumran-sectarian theory, despite the published rejection of that theory by the IAA team itself following ten seasons of digs at Qumran–a rejection that the museum doesn’t even mention.

How this came about, itself has the makings of a scandal. Instead of putting together a neutral team of scholars to produce the film, the museum turned to one of the most traditional of Qumranologists, Dr. William Schniedewind, who teaches at UCLA–a scholar who even speaks in his writings of a particular dialect of Hebrew being spoken “at Qumran” because it is found in some of the scrolls. Clearly, Schniedewind, “Qumran Visualization Project Director,” has used the opportunity to suggest, to thousands of unwitting people, that the recent IAA research poses no threat to the Qumran-sectarian theory.

Toto · 06-26-2007, 01:01 PM

An interesting article on the front page of the LA Times concerning the exhibit in San Diego: A lively debate over the dead sea scrolls

The article covers the controvery, the technology involved in displaying the scroll fragments, and the marketing of the exhibit.

Quote:

After learning about the geology and natural landscape of Israel, visitors descend to a facsimile of a cave mouth, with strains of Middle Eastern music and whiffs of frankincense and myrrh helping to set the mood as displays detail how the scrolls were discovered and pieced together from thousands of fragments. . . . .

What has proved impossible to regulate is the heat from clashing scholarly theories over what the scrolls reveal about the spiritual and political landscape of ancient Israel. During the era of the scrolls, Christianity was born, and Judaism was being transformed from a faith centered on animal sacrifices led by hereditary priests to a religion of sacred texts and commentaries taught by rabbis.

The mainstream theory holds that the scrolls were written by a small, ascetic Jewish sect that rejected Jerusalem's priestly authorities. Some dissenters complain that this reflects an erroneous orthodoxy that began with the small group of mostly Roman Catholic archeologists and editors who controlled most of the scrolls until the early 1990s.

. . .

Wall texts and the exhibition catalog by the show's curator, San Diego State religious studies professor Risa Levitt Kohn, acknowledge that competing theories exist but stick mainly to a low-keyed assertion of the mainstream view. "You don't want to confuse people with so many competing theories, so they walk away, saying, 'Well, nobody really knows anything!' " Kohn said, smiling.

gurugeorge · 06-26-2007, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toto

An interesting article on the front page of the LA Times concerning the exhibit in San Diego: A lively debate over the dead sea scrolls

The article covers the controvery, the technology involved in displaying the scroll fragments, and the marketing of the exhibit.

Quote:

After learning about the geology and natural landscape of Israel, visitors descend to a facsimile of a cave mouth, with strains of Middle Eastern music and whiffs of frankincense and myrrh helping to set the mood as displays detail how the scrolls were discovered and pieced together from thousands of fragments. . . . .

What has proved impossible to regulate is the heat from clashing scholarly theories over what the scrolls reveal about the spiritual and political landscape of ancient Israel. During the era of the scrolls, Christianity was born, and Judaism was being transformed from a faith centered on animal sacrifices led by hereditary priests to a religion of sacred texts and commentaries taught by rabbis.

The mainstream theory holds that the scrolls were written by a small, ascetic Jewish sect that rejected Jerusalem's priestly authorities. Some dissenters complain that this reflects an erroneous orthodoxy that began with the small group of mostly Roman Catholic archeologists and editors who controlled most of the scrolls until the early 1990s.

. . .

Wall texts and the exhibition catalog by the show's curator, San Diego State religious studies professor Risa Levitt Kohn, acknowledge that competing theories exist but stick mainly to a low-keyed assertion of the mainstream view. "You don't want to confuse people with so many competing theories, so they walk away, saying, 'Well, nobody really knows anything!' " Kohn said, smiling.

I read a few of Norman Golb's essays on his alternative theory that it's not a repository of Essene texts but a miscellany of Jewish texts, like a library. Very interesting. Linky. The latest article there is a critical note re. these exhibitions. Quote:

While variations in wording can be found in each of the exhibitions, the basic
idiom and associated message remain the same: they have in common an effort to
convince the public of the truth of the old theory, created in the infancy of Scroll
scholarship, that these manuscripts were written in whole or at least in large part by a
Jewish sect of Essenes supposedly living at a site — Khirbet Qumran — located in the
Judaean Wilderness near the Dead Sea shore.

These claims contradict the presently known accumulation of evidence, adduced
by growing numbers of text scholars and archaeologists, demonstrating that the Scrolls
are of Jerusalem origin, that Khirbet Qumran was a secular site with no connection to a
religious sect, and that the Scrolls lack any organic relation to that site.

PhilosopherJay · 06-28-2007, 06:39 PM

Hi Toto,

The show's curator makes a sharp point. We don't want people adopting the relativistic and Socratic position, "Nobody really knows anything."

I think we can all agree with her. Yes, we must not allow the faithful to know that there is more than one interpretation of the facts. After all, that would only confuse them and in their confused state they might lose faith. Yes, we must protect them from the truth at all costs. Let god's will be done.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toto

An interesting article on the front page of the LA Times concerning the exhibit in San Diego: A lively debate over the dead sea scrolls

...

Quote:

. . .

Wall texts and the exhibition catalog by the show's curator, San Diego State religious studies professor Risa Levitt Kohn, acknowledge that competing theories exist but stick mainly to a low-keyed assertion of the mainstream view. "You don't want to confuse people with so many competing theories, so they walk away, saying, 'Well, nobody really knows anything!' " Kohn said, smiling.

Charles Gadda · 06-30-2007, 06:32 PM

Yes--the museum has obviously decided to conceal the current state of research in this field from the public, and in the end the only explanation they can come up with is that it would "confuse" people to tell them the truth.

Worse, they are attempting to obscure the entire matter by constantly referring to "competing theories," in the plural. In effect, they have decided to treat Golb's theory as just one of many "maverick" views, even though it has been endorsed by an entire series of major archaeologists who have reexamined Qumran over the past decade--all of whom have been carefully excluded from participating in the museum's lecture series.

But no one, of course, will find these statements about "so many competing theories" confusing!

A chronology of events in this controversy is now available at http://museum-ethics.blogspot.com/20...a-scrolls.html

Toto · 08-05-2007, 10:26 PM

Christian Fundamentalism and the Dead Sea Scrolls in San Diego by the above Charles Gadda expands on charges against the organizers of the exhibit.

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06-30-2007, 06:32 PM	#6
Charles Gadda Regular Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: New York, NY Posts: 249	Yes--the museum has obviously decided to conceal the current state of research in this field from the public, and in the end the only explanation they can come up with is that it would "confuse" people to tell them the truth. Worse, they are attempting to obscure the entire matter by constantly referring to "competing theories," in the plural. In effect, they have decided to treat Golb's theory as just one of many "maverick" views, even though it has been endorsed by an entire series of major archaeologists who have reexamined Qumran over the past decade--all of whom have been carefully excluded from participating in the museum's lecture series. But no one, of course, will find these statements about "so many competing theories" confusing! A chronology of events in this controversy is now available at http://museum-ethics.blogspot.com/20...a-scrolls.html

08-05-2007, 10:26 PM	#7
Toto Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Los Angeles area Posts: 40,549	Christian Fundamentalism and the Dead Sea Scrolls in San Diego by the above Charles Gadda expands on charges against the organizers of the exhibit.

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