Dead Sea Scrolls

One of history's greatest archaeological finds was so improbable that it borders on the miraculous. In 1947, a young Palestinian goatherder discovered a narrow cave entrance by the shores of the Dead Sea, in what is now Israel. Unsure of what he might find, the boy first threw a rock into its shadows and heard something shatter. Entering, he found dozens of tall clay pots packed with ancient writings. Known today as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the 972 parchments and papyrus fragments in this and other nearby caves contained some of the oldest surviving examples of Jewish scripture.

THE DEAD Sea Scrolls, in short (which they are not, running longer than a politician's promises), are the oldest known biblical manuscripts in existence. Perhaps the greatest archaeological find of the 20th century, they made their North American debut Saturday at the Franklin Institute, where they'll stay through mid-October. To many atheists, they are the Chronicles of Riddick, or a graphic novel. To most believers, the Dead Sea Scrolls — more than 900 parchments and fragments — offer proof (or at least evidence)

Moving to quell the controversy over the unauthorized release of photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Israel Antiquities Authority yesterday said it "agrees in principle" that photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls should be widely accessible and announced a meeting to discuss the issue. The meeting is to be held in December in Jerusalem, where, mostly at the Rockefeller Museum, the original scrolls have been stored under the control of the authority. The authority will invite representatives of institutions that currently maintain photographs of the scrolls.

A research library will give scholars access to photographs of all the Dead Sea Scrolls, ending the virtual monopoly by a select few who controlled the archaeological treasures for 40 years. The decision, to be announced by the Huntington Library in this Los Angeles suburb today, has touched off an academic brawl. The decision was received enthusiastically by scholars who believe the world deserves access to vital historical documents, but it dismayed those who feel their years of work on the 500 scrolls is being stolen.

Two thousand years after they were written and more than 40 years after they were discovered, the famed Dead Sea Scrolls are being catalogued for a publication that will be available to the public. The announcement - made by Bible scholars attending a Center City symposium - came weeks after the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif., dropped a bombshell by opening its collection of photos of the scrolls to scholars. The ancient Jewish religious writings have been the focus of controversy - fermenting for many years - over who should have access.

  When the Franklin Institute opens its "Dead Sea Scrolls" exhibit May 12, visitors will catch a glimpse of one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time. Centerpiece of the exhibit will be 20 scroll fragments found in the 1940s in Palestine near the Dead Sea. They are part of an extraordinary trove of nearly 1,000 parchments that include the oldest surviving texts of the Jewish Bible, several of which will be on display in Philadelphia. Penned between 150 B.C. and A.D. 70 and sealed in urns, the scrolls make no mention of Jesus of Nazareth.

Theodor Herzl Gaster, 85, an internationally known scholar who published the first English translation of the Dead Sea scrolls, died in his sleep Monday at Osteopathic Medical Center in Philadelphia. Dr. Gaster, who taught for 30 years at Dropsie College (now the Annenberg Research Institute), knew so much about so many fields that a colleague once said, "Dr. Gaster half-asleep is more intelligent than a lot of guys fully awake. " His major field of study was ancient literature of the Hebrews, Canaanites, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans and others.

It was nine years ago that Sidnie White Crawford first squirreled herself away in a narrow, dark room in the basement of the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem. Shoulders hunched, eyes squinting, she sat hours on end, trying to read the Book of Deuteronomy etched on pieces of ancient leather, some no bigger than a thumbnail, all as flaky as pastry. In the smoky half-light of vintage lamps, the difference between ancient script and ancient slips was maddeningly hard to discern. What was that speck peeking from the edge of a fragment?

On Capitol Hill this summer, Bob Dole and the Republicans will be slugging it out with Bill Clinton and the Democrats over budgets, taxes and other pressing issues of our lives - maybe even health-care reform if the Clintons are brave enough to release their proposals anytime soon. But important as they may be, these present-day political brouhahas are mere flotsam in the stream of history beside an impressive display that will spend most of the summer barely out of earshot of the acrimony on the Hill.

To enter the world of Dead Sea Scrolls scholarship is to plunge into a maelstrom of controversy, where arcane textual disputes have sweeping historical and religious implications and researchers exchange what one observer called "learned venom. " First discovered more than four decades ago in the caves of Qumran in the Judean desert, these 2,000-year-old manuscripts are considered vital to understanding the development of both rabbinic Judaism and Christianity. But until two years ago, access to unpublished materials was restricted to a small group of scholars under the aegis of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The stalwarts of Philly's museum district are welcoming their new neighbor, the Barnes Foundation, with biblical scrolls, Barnes-inspired selections, and answers to big questions. The Barnes opens its treasure trove of impressionists and modernists this weekend, but art and culture seekers don't have to stop there. Art and anthropology await visitors to other museums on and near the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The biggest rival to the Barnes kickoff is best introduced with an ancient declaration: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

THE DEAD Sea Scrolls, in short (which they are not, running longer than a politician's promises), are the oldest known biblical manuscripts in existence. Perhaps the greatest archaeological find of the 20th century, they made their North American debut Saturday at the Franklin Institute, where they'll stay through mid-October. To many atheists, they are the Chronicles of Riddick, or a graphic novel. To most believers, the Dead Sea Scrolls — more than 900 parchments and fragments — offer proof (or at least evidence)

One of history's greatest archaeological finds was so improbable that it borders on the miraculous. In 1947, a young Palestinian goatherder discovered a narrow cave entrance by the shores of the Dead Sea, in what is now Israel. Unsure of what he might find, the boy first threw a rock into its shadows and heard something shatter. Entering, he found dozens of tall clay pots packed with ancient writings. Known today as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the 972 parchments and papyrus fragments in this and other nearby caves contained some of the oldest surviving examples of Jewish scripture.

  When the Franklin Institute opens its "Dead Sea Scrolls" exhibit May 12, visitors will catch a glimpse of one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time. Centerpiece of the exhibit will be 20 scroll fragments found in the 1940s in Palestine near the Dead Sea. They are part of an extraordinary trove of nearly 1,000 parchments that include the oldest surviving texts of the Jewish Bible, several of which will be on display in Philadelphia. Penned between 150 B.C. and A.D. 70 and sealed in urns, the scrolls make no mention of Jesus of Nazareth.

Visitors to the region's non-art museums will have a particularly eclectic array of exhibitions and programs to choose from this spring - from a celebration of the 200th birthday of America's oldest natural history museum to an examination of Bruce Springsteen, Founding Boss, at the nation's only museum devoted to the U.S. Constitution. Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls will make an appearance in town, and the clock is already ticking on an examination of the Mayan obsession with time.

JERUSALEM - Two thousand years after they were written and decades after they were found in desert caves, some of the world-famous Dead Sea Scrolls went online for the first time Monday in a project launched by Israel's national museum and Google. The appearance of five of the most important Dead Sea scrolls on the Internet is part of a broader attempt by the custodians of the celebrated manuscripts - who were once criticized for allowing small circles of scholars to monopolize them - to make them available to anyone with a computer.

Easter is a wonderful season, with spring in the air, egg hunts, holiday finery, baseball and baskets of candy and jellybeans. It's also the holiest of seasons for Christians, because it celebrates the end of Lent, Holy Week and the resurrection of the Son of God. Christianity and Easter were born in Israel's Jerusalem, and pilgrims of many faiths will descend here in Jubilee Year 2000 as Pope John Paul II did recently. Every year, millions come to discover this exciting country full of fascinating contradictions.

Dick Latvala is the architect of what you might call the afterlife of the Grateful Dead, the band's continuing "tour" via the mail-order-only Dick's Picks series of concert CDs. Think of them as Grateful Dead reruns. "I'm lucky, man. I don't know how I deserve this," said the gravel-voiced Latvala, at home in the Northern California town of Petaluma, ground zero of GD territory. "Who in life can get the only possible job he could do? There's nothing else I know how to do. I can chew Doublemint and sit on a couch longer than anyone, but no one's going to pay money for that.

It was nine years ago that Sidnie White Crawford first squirreled herself away in a narrow, dark room in the basement of the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem. Shoulders hunched, eyes squinting, she sat hours on end, trying to read the Book of Deuteronomy etched on pieces of ancient leather, some no bigger than a thumbnail, all as flaky as pastry. In the smoky half-light of vintage lamps, the difference between ancient script and ancient slips was maddeningly hard to discern. What was that speck peeking from the edge of a fragment?

On Capitol Hill this summer, Bob Dole and the Republicans will be slugging it out with Bill Clinton and the Democrats over budgets, taxes and other pressing issues of our lives - maybe even health-care reform if the Clintons are brave enough to release their proposals anytime soon. But important as they may be, these present-day political brouhahas are mere flotsam in the stream of history beside an impressive display that will spend most of the summer barely out of earshot of the acrimony on the Hill.