The Dead Sea Scrolls

[Johanna]

Well, probably everyone knew this but me: The Dead Sea Scrolls a collection of thousands of fragments that include the oldest-known manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament, are almost all written on animal skins.

The scrolls are most commonly made of animal skins, but also papyrus and one of copper.

Some researchers have a theory that townspeople removed the scrolls from libraries and placed them in the caves for safekeeping from Roman armies, but no one is really sure exactly who wrote the scrolls, or hid them. Scholars do know that the Dead Sea Scrolls predates any other known remaining versions of the Hebrew bible by about a thousand years.

The fragments are thought to comprise about 900 manuscripts total. Roughly a quarter of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which date from about 250 B.C. to 65 A.D., are biblical, with all the books of the Hebrew Bible represented except for Esther. The rest of the scrolls include such content as hymns, calendar items and rules for community living. Most of the scrolls are in Hebrew, with some in Aramaic and Greek, and most are written on animal skin.

Ironically, with the current controversy raging because of the Pope's remarks that even ancient people saw holy war and "conversion by the sword" as evil,

Hisham Farajallah, president of the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C., says because so few have seen the actual scrolls, he can't say whether they are authentic. If they are, he and other Muslims would "love to support them. ... People don't realize that one of the articles of faith for Muslims is to believe in the Psalms of David, the Torah of Moses and the Gospel of Jesus."

Pacific Science Center Display, Seattle Times

Johanna

[Gregory B. Moody]

I have checked out a good book called " Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?" by Norman Golb...pub 1995...

I am interested in archeology and this same subject was addressed by one PBS NOVA show... which is much more modern than this book... Some of the conclusions stated as facts in that link of 25 things are much more in dispute than their syntax would leave you to believe. Even more interesting in this book , since the author is one of those involved in the controversy about releasing the images of the scrolls so that many schollars could weigh in with their theories, is the amount of politics involved... much like the sad politics involved in many medical and scientific discoveries to this day... It seems like in archeology the people who actually dig up the site assume that they are the best ones to say what the artifacts mean... when they may not have the expertise to take on that role.

I was thinking about writing a scroll myself... does anyone know the formula for the Oak Gall black ink often used ? Or are there better inks for writing on leather ?

Greg

[troy]

Have used black hull dye in the past for dying rawhide. The powder when mixed with water, can get very thick and smooth depending on the ratios, but may work out of a feather pen - don't know what they used.

on this ancient theme - i'm starting to carve into leather old pictish standing stones in my area and have already got some acedemic interest. First one I'm doing is 6m high and has over 100 fighting figures about some war.

I'm only carving it 1m high and plan to carve in a typical village of the time in the backgroud - sort of like after the battle stuff.

[B.J. Mantell]

A freind and I are planning to attempt making some leather scrolls for our SCA group. I am hoping our scribes guild will have some info about inks and such if they do I will pass it on. We are also planning on accenting the illumination on the scrolls with silver and gold leafing same as it was back then.