|
The Dead Sea Scrolls By Misheal Al-Kadhi, from the Arabic Paperthe Dead Sea Scrolls, Hershel Shanks, pp. 7-8)English The Dead Sea Scrollsthe Dead Sea Scrolls, Hershel Shanks, pp. 7-8).
An immediate frantic search ensued through the remaining caves in the
region in order to find what other ancient scrolls could be discovered
therein.
A small group of "international" scholars in Israel
were given
exclusive access
to them and the rest of the world was all but totally
barred from gaining even the slightest glimpse of the texts.
Prof. Eisenman observes that one of the
major stumbling blocks
for the
publication of the scrolls was that "in the first place, the team was
hardly
"international"
. Prof. Robert Eisenman was one of the key players in the
drama that finally lead to the release of the scrolls.
In his book The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered we read: "In the spring of
1986, at the end of his stay in Jerusalem, Professor Eisenman went with
the British scholar, Philip Davies of the University of Sheffield, to see one
of the Israeli officials responsible for this - an intermediary on behalf of
the Antiquities Department (now 'Authority') and the International Team
and the Scrolls Curator at Israel Museum. They were told in no uncertain
terms '
You will not see the Scrolls in your lifetimes'
". This stung them into
action, and as a result of this statement, a massive effort was launched
and five years later, through a
whirlwind of media publicity, absolute
access to the scrolls was attained.
Prof. Eisenman eventually received
1800 pictures of the previously
unpublished scrolls
. The book goes on to describe how "Eisenman was
preparing the Facsimile Edition of all unpublished plates. This was
scheduled to appear the following spring through E. J. Brill in Leiden,
Holland. Ten days, however, before it's scheduled publication in April
1991, after pressure was applied by the International Team, the publisher
inexplicably withdrew and Hershel Shanks (author of Biblical Archiology
Review) and the Biblical Archeology Society to their credit stepped in to fill
the breach". However, finally in September 1991, the archives were
officially opened and two months later the 2-volume Facsimile Edition was
published.
Dostları ilə paylaş: |
|
|