Dead Sea Scrolls

Dead Sea Scrolls – Maruzen-Yushodo Co. Ltd. – 1QIsa, 1QS and 1QpHab – Shrine of the Book (Jerusalem, Israel)

West Bank — Ca. 120 BC – AD 70

The most important archaeological find of the 20th century: the famous Hebrew scrolls with the oldest surviving Bible texts in the world as 2,000-year-old testimonies of ancient Judaism

  1. A spectacular 20th century archeological find was made by Bedouins near Qumran on the Dead Sea in 1947

  2. The Hebrew scrolls were wrapped in linen and stored in clay jars, preserving them for 2,000 years!

  3. The compendium assembled here presents three of the best-surviving scrolls and three fragments

Dead Sea Scrolls

  1. Description
  2. Facsimile Editions (2)
Description
Dead Sea Scrolls

The famous Dead Sea Scrolls belong among the most spectacular archeological finds of the 20th century. Some caves were discovered coincidentally by Bedouins near Qumran on the Dead Sea in 1947, in which mysterious scrolls of parchment were hidden in clay pots. These documents are 2,000 year old testimonies to ancient Judaism! The scrolls also have an extraordinary importance for the Christian Bible. The compendium assembled here presents three of the best-surviving scrolls, in addition to three additional fragments of documents from one of the caves. The scrolls from Qumran are unique pieces of world history!

Dead Sea Scrolls

The famous Dead Sea Scrolls belong among the most spectacular archeological finds of the 20th century. Some caves were discovered coincidentally by Bedouins near Qumran on the Dead Sea in 1947, in which mysterious scrolls of parchment were hidden in clay pots. These documents are 2,000 year old testimonies to ancient Judaism! The scrolls also have an extraordinary importance for the Christian Bible. The compendium assembled here presents three of the best-surviving scrolls, in addition to three additional fragments of documents from one of the caves. The scrolls from Qumran are unique pieces of world history!

A Religious Book and Religious Rules of Conduct

The compendium of three great scrolls offers a wonderful inside view of the Qumran discoveries. The impressive scrolls originate from Cave 1, and are accompanied by three additional fragments from Cave 4. These are the famous Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa), The Order of the Community (1QS), and The Persher to Habakkuk (1QpHab). The first scroll, measuring 734.0 x 26.2 cm, is “the only biblical book among the Dead Sea Scrolls to survive wholly intact.” Additionally, the Great Isaiah Scroll presents the biblical text as being practically unchanged in comparison to modern editions! The second scroll, 186 cm long, contains rules that expanded on the commandments of the Torah for the Jewish community of Qumran. It conveys coexistence in a Jewish community in the first pre-Christian century. Finally, the third scroll contains a so-called pesharim, a clarifying commentary to a biblical text, in this case the prophet Habakuk.

2,000 Year Old Documents

The scrolls assembled here originate from the time period between 120 B.C.E and 70 C.E. The scrolls show rips, seams, holes, and defective pages, but are nonetheless in good condition and belong among the best preserved and most complete specimens from among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Great Isaiah Scroll consists altogether of 17 sewn-together pieces of parchment, which together yield a length of seven meters. Both of the other are roughly one and a half meters long. The Hebrew scrolls were written with carbon ink on leather and parchment, wrapped in linen and stored in clay jars. Thus protected, the precious documents were able to survive for two thousand years! These three scrolls are appended by some of the Jordanian fragments from the National Archeological Museum in Amman: Quohelet (4Q109), Pesher Isaiah (4Q162), and Testimonia (4Q175).

The Spectacular Find

The exceptionally significant Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in caves near Qumran. This location on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea was settled early on by a Jewish community. In 1947, three Bedouin shepherds made the spectacular discovery: they found ancient scrolls, sometimes stored in clay pots in a cave. Additional caves were discovered in the years to follow and the numerous scrolls were extensively studied. Thus, a comprehensive collection of scrolls and countless fragments from various caves existed after two decades of searching.

A Long Trip to Jerusalem

The first scrolls came into the possession of scholars and researchers, who made the outstanding significance of the documents known, by means of antique dealers who were ignorant of the enormous significance of the find. The Qumran Scrolls travelled by various routes to various places, the USA and Jordan among them, passing through many hands and owners. They were finally bought back by the Israeli government in 1954 and are stored today in Jerusalem in a so-called Shrine of the Book, constructed in 1962. The three scrolls from the compendium at hand allows one to relive the exciting history of the mysterious discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Thus, “one of the most important archeological finds of the 20th century” is brought to life!

Codicology

Alternative Titles
Manuscript of St.Mark's Isaiah
Habbakkuk Commentary
Community Rule
Qumran-Rollen
Schriftrollen vom Toten Meer
Size / Format
3 scrolls / The Manuscript of St. Mark's Isaiah: 734.0 × 26.2 cm The Habbakkuk Commentary: 150.0 × 13.0 cm The Community Rule: 186.0 × 14.0 cm
Origin
Israel
Date
Ca. 120 BC – AD 70
Epochs
Style
Language
Content
Three of the best-surviving scrolls and three additional fragments of documents from the Qumran Caves

Available facsimile editions:
Dead Sea Scrolls – Maruzen-Yushodo Co. Ltd. – 1QIsa, 1QS and 1QpHab – Shrine of the Book (Jerusalem, Israel)
Maruzen-Yushodo Co. Ltd. – New York, 1979
Limited Edition: 400 copies

Dead Sea Scrolls – Facsimile Editions Ltd. – 1QIsa, 1QS and 1QpHab – Shrine of the Book (Jerusalem, Israel)
Facsimile Editions Ltd. – London, 2007
Limited Edition: 49 copies
Facsimile Editions

#1 Dead Sea Scrolls (Earthenware Jar Edition)

Maruzen-Yushodo Co. Ltd. – New York, 1979

Publisher: Maruzen-Yushodo Co. Ltd. – New York, 1979
Limited Edition: 400 copies
Binding: 3 sheepskin parchment scrolls in an earthenware jar placed in a wooden box with the commentary
Commentary: 1 volume by Magen Broshi, Masao Sekine, Millar Burrows, Elisha Qimron, and Geza Vermes
Languages: English, Hebrew
3 rolls volumes: Exact reproduction of the original document (extent, color and size) New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1979. 1/400. Quarto. 93pp (text), 108pp (photographic reproductions). Original linen covered box with title in Hebrew and English on metal plate fixed on top lid. Striking burgundy silk on inside of the box. Casket containing an earthenware jar, 3 facsimile scrolls placed inside the jar (just the way the original Dead Sea Scrolls were found), and a soft leather bound book telling the amazing story of the Dead Sea Scrolls and their discovery. Found inadvertently in 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls are regarded by many as the most important archaeological find of the twentieth century. Mystery and intrigue surrounded their acquisition and there are many accounts of their subsequent ‘wanderings’ as they continued to change hands after their discovery. The three facsimile scrolls represent some of the largest and most important Dead Sea Scrolls: The Great Isaiah Scroll, the Rule of the Community, and the Habakkuk Commentary. - 1) The Isaiah Scroll is the only complete biblical book surviving among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Found in Cave One at Qumran in 1947, it dates from about 120 BCE. The text of the scroll hardly differs from the version used today and demonstrates the degree to which the text of the Bible was faithfully transmitted over the centuries. The Isaiah scroll is approximately seven metres long and is made up of 17 parchment sheets, sewn end to end. - 2) Also discovered in Cave One at Qumran, this scroll fragment is known variously as the Rule of the Community and the Manual of Discipline, and was in two pieces when it was brought by the Bedouin who discovered it to Bethlehem in 1947. The text embodies the rules of conduct for the Qumranites themselves, rules which are additional to the 613 commandments found in the Pentateuch (Torah). These rules of conduct regulated interpersonal relationships and matters of personal piety in a Jewish community which had apparently separated itself both geographically and ideologically from the more mainstream practice of Judaism in Jerusalem. - 3) The Habakkuk Commentary, also discovered in Qumran Cave One, is part of a group of literature found in several caves at Qumran, which have come to be known by the Hebrew word pesharim, “commentaries.” These explanations often interpret the biblical text with reference to events in the writer’s own time, the recent past, or the near future. Other such commentaries found at Qumran explain in this way the biblical books of Isaiah, Micah, Zephaniah, Psalms, Hosea, and Nahum. The text of the scroll hardly differs from the version used today and demonstrates the degree to which the text of the Bible was faithfully transmitted over the centuries. The transcription was made from the excellent photographs which form the basis of this edition, from the earlier photographs published by M. Burrows, and from the original Scroll themselves. Studies dealing with the textual and paleographic aspects of the Scrolls were also used. Each scroll is rolled and protected by a piece of linen cloth. Size of the earthenware jar: 17" tall, 8" width. The soft leather bound book is gilt-lettered on spine and covers, contains 93 pages of text and 108 pages featuring color photographic reproductions of the three scrolls, along with their transcriptions. Box, jar, scrolls and books in very good condition (like new). The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in a series of eleven caves around the site known as Wadi Qumran near the Dead Sea in the West Bank (of the Jordan River) between 1946 and 1956 by Bedouin peoples and a team of archeologists. The initial discovery, by Bedouin shepherd Muhammed Edh-Dhib, his cousin Jum'a Muhammed, and Khalil Musa, took place between November 1946 and February 1947. The shepherds discovered 7 scrolls housed in jars in a cave at what is now known as the Qumran site. John C. Trever reconstructed the story of the scrolls from several interviews with the Bedouin. Edh-Dhib's cousin noticed the caves, but edh-Dhib himself was the first to actually fall into one. He retrieved a handful of scrolls, which Trever identifies as the Isaiah Scroll, Habakkuk Commentary, and the Community Rule, and took them back to the camp to show to his family. None of the scrolls were destroyed in this process, despite popular rumor. First English language edition. vg.
Facsimile Copy Available!
Price Category: €€€
(3,000€ - 7,000€)

#2 The Dead Sea Scrolls

Facsimile Editions Ltd. – London, 2007
Dead Sea Scrolls – Facsimile Editions Ltd. – 1QIsa, 1QS and 1QpHab – Shrine of the Book (Jerusalem, Israel)
Dead Sea Scrolls – Facsimile Editions Ltd. – 1QIsa, 1QS and 1QpHab – Shrine of the Book (Jerusalem, Israel) Photos with courtesy of the publisher

Publisher: Facsimile Editions Ltd. – London, 2007
Limited Edition: 49 copies
Binding: Housed with the commentary in a box with three custom, museum-quality Lucite frames that fit each of the fragments exactly and are each engraved with a brief description.
Commentary: 1 volume
1 volume: Exact reproduction of the original document (extent, color and size) Reproduction of the entire original document as detailed as possible (scope, format, colors). The binding may not correspond to the original or current document binding.
Facsimile Copy Available!
Price Category: €€€€€
(over 10,000€)
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