This is a comprehensive and exciting introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls - a group of texts belonging to the library of an ancient Jewish set that were stashed away across several caves in the Dead Sea area near Jerusalem. Over two thousand years later, in 1947, the first of them were accidentally discovered by a shepherd boy who was searching for a lost goat. Many fragile texts were destroyed or fragmented during their initial handling, and many were sold on by the local tribes. After word of their discovery got out, and their significance was beginning to be realised, more caves were sought out and further scrolls discovered over the next ten years, both by archaeologists and scholars who wanted to translate and publish their contents, and by local tribes who became aware of their monetary value.

In places this reads like a thriller, as the main protagonists try to track down the plundered texts through shady black markets, piece together lost sections, and reveal their historic importance. The author was among the first people on the scene due to his expertise in ancient Hebrew and Semitic language, and so had first-hand experience of the atmosphere of discovery and the urgency to preserve these unique documents that had not been seen for thousands of years.

The significance of their content varies between the different manuscripts found in the haul, but the rarest and most important contain the oldest known versions of several Biblical and Jewish books, including several from the Old Testament. These existed in many forms before they became standardised many hundreds of years after they were originally written, when the variant texts died out and the information contained in them was largely lost. Some of these scrolls therefore could hold the nearest versions to the originals of many of the texts that survive now only in translation, along with all the modifications that translations involve. In various instances the earlier versions of the text carry additional sections, or different readings, which change the interpretation of their meaning significantly from the current standard versions.

We also learn a lot here about the Jewish Sect that owned and concealed these scrolls. They are generally known as the Qumran sect, after the location, and as their actual name is not known. They had many non-standard Jewish practices, and isolated themselves away from the rest of society to maintain spiritual purity away from worldy concerns. Established around 200 BC, they lasted until their destruction by the Romans around 70 AD. This is a very interesting time, as a lot of conflict was going on between opposing Jewish groups, and this period also covers the coming of Jesus and the foundation of Christianity. We learn about the beliefs, initiations, structure of the community, and way of life of the Qumran sect from their religious documents that were among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and very little is known of them outside of this source. In many ways their differences from standard Jewish practice pre-empt many Christian monastic practices and beliefs, and they focus a lot on the coming of the Messiah which is particularly apt due to the time period in which they existed.

As an introduction to the scrolls this covers a lot of the main important and interesting areas, with an excitement and energy that would be difficult to reproduce by an author not involved in the early days of their physical discovery, and scholarly investigation. However this book was written over sixty years ago, and inevitably a lot more is known about the scrolls now that would be included in a more up to date introduction. Still, it is well worth a read for those generally interested in history, archaeology, languages, or more specifically in Judaism or Christianity. ( )

Being A big Allegro Fan, I was disappointed in this interpretation on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Not because I doubted His accuracy, in fact, I believe his is one of the more accurate of all the interpretations out there before or since. He was, after all, one of the original on the "team" that did the first work on the scrolls after there discovery. Just to be on that team meant you were recognized as one of a very few elite People in the world learned enough to take on such an undertaking. (Of course after his publication of "Sacred Mushroom and the Cross" he lost all credibility with the 'Establishment' Which leads me to why I was disappointed in this particular volume. There was and is a very deep political/religious interplay as to what gets put out to the public and how it "Should" be interpreted. Allegro was a rebel and didn't follow the rules generally speaking which is why I liked his writings in the first place. In this particular case though he went along with the crowd to get published and the work shows it. Don't get me wrong he was a great author and a good writer. The information was to say the least dull boring and not enlightening at all. He gave several talks on the subject for a long time after the publication and there is where he came into his own and "Explained" what he was not allowed to write. So three stars for the book and two thumbs up for John M Allegro. ( )

1961 reprint, paperback

Reprint 1977

Jewish writings > Judaism > Other Religions > Qumran > Religion > Texts of Particular Sects