February 11, 2008 - BiblePlaces.com

Scroll Distribution in Dead Sea Caves

A new study suggests that the scrolls in two of the Dead Sea Scroll caves were deposited fifty years earlier than the rest of the scrolls. You can read a brief report of the study here; the full report was published here:

Stökl Ben Ezra, Daniel. “Old Caves and Young Caves: A Statistical Reevaluation of a Qumran Consensus.” Dead Sea Discoveries 14/3 (2007) 313-333.

I am curious which two caves have the older material. Based on geographical location of the caves, I’d expect 1 and 2, or 3 and 11. But I don’t have access to the article as I write.

For some photos of the Dead Sea Scroll caves, see here.

HT: Joe Lauer

Update (2/11): The link above has been corrected. In the process, I found the full article itself, plus an abstract, which answers my question above: 1 and 4. The link that Al gives in the comments below is to an earlier, abbreviated version.

Tagged Dead Sea

Excavations and Politics in the City of David

The AP has a nothing-else-to-report-today article about the Israeli excavations in the City of David, focusing particularly on the political aspects. The thesis of the article is summed up in this paragraph:

Israel says it’s reconnecting with its ancient heritage. Palestinians contend the archaeology is a political weapon to undermine their own links to Jerusalem.

The article interviews both sides, though it’s not in-depth enough to satisfy either side. My contribution to the story is a photograph of the City of David that shows the area sometime in the first half of the 20th century, but without most of the buildings.

City of David from the south
Source: Library of Congress, LC-matpc-08433

Some information and photos about ancient sites in the area can be found at these BiblePlaces.com pages: City of David, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, Warren’s Shaft, and Pool of Siloam.

Tagged Jerusalem