The course introduces a thorough and up-to-date review of the different kinds of scrolls found at Qumran, pointing to their significance for our understanding of ancient Judaism and early Christianity.

The archeology of the site at Khirbet Qumran, where many assume that the so-called Dead Sea Sect or Essenes dwelt, is studied along an on-line tour.

Special attention is given to the history and ideology of the Qumran movement, and its Law in comparison to contemporary Jewish Halakhah.

Knowledge

1. Learners will describe _the contents of the most important scrolls_______
2. Learners will define ___the ideology, religious beliefs and social practices_____
3. Learners will write __forums in which they discuss the positions and characteristics of certain scroll or specific passages within them__

Skills

1. Learners will analyze __ancient Jewish and sectarian beliefs
2.  Learners will evaluate __ the relationship between the Qumran sectarians and other "main stream" Jews in the Second Temple period

Values

The authenticity of ancient Jewish religious writings will be evaluated in light of historical criticism. The radical ideas of the Qumran sectarians will be assessed following comparison to the Pharisees and current models of sectarianism.

The course contains 7 basic written units comprising initial part of the course (each unit equals approximately the contents of two classes). Each unit contains articles and films. There is also a filmed tour in kh. Qumran. See details below.

The active learning is based on students' participation in and open discussions groups and forums. 

*There may be changes in the syllabus depending on learning progress and effectiveness

Final exam 70%

Participation in discussion groups/forums 30%

Bonus: adding terms from the scrolls to a joint directory

Final exam and Participation in discussion groups/forums

none

Regev, E. "Abominated Temple and A Holy Community: The Formation of the Concepts of Purity and Impurity in Qumran", Dead Sea Discoveries 10.2 (2003), pp. 243-278.

Article: Regev, E. "Chercher les femmes: Were the yahad Celibates?" Dead Sea Discoveries 15.2  (2008), pp. 253-284.

Regev, E. “Temple and Righteousness in Qumran and Early Christianity: Tracing the Social Differences between the Two Movements”, in Daniel R. Schwartz and Ruth A. Clements (eds.), Text, Thought, and Practice in Qumran and Early Christianity. Proceedings of the Ninth International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, January 11-13, 2004. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah. (Leiden: Brill 2009), pp. 87-112.

Schiffman, L.H. "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the History of Judaism," Near Eastern Archaeology 63.3 (2000): 155-159.

Films of units 1-2, 4-7 and concluding films.

For other recommended bibliography, see below the full syllabus.

Full bibliography (obligatory and recommended)

Unit 1: The Discovery of the Scrolls

On-line video film: a tour in kh. Qumran and the caves with Eyal Regev

Article: Regev, E. "The Archaeology of Sectarianism: Ritual, Resistance and Hierarchy in Kh. Qumran," Revue de Qumran 24/94 (2009), pp. 175-214.

Unit 2: The History of the Qumran Sect and the Historical Details in the Scrolls

Article: Regev, E. "Abominated Temple and A Holy Community: The Formation of the Concepts of Purity and Impurity in Qumran", Dead Sea Discoveries 10.2 (2003), pp. 243-278.

Unit 3: The Bible at Qumran 

Unit 4: The Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphal Literature Discovered at Qumran

Article: Najman, H. "Reconsidering Jubilees: Prophecy and Exemplarity," in Past Renewals: Interpretative Authority, Renewed Revelation, and the Quest for Perfection in Jewish Antiquity, Leiden 2010, pp. 189-205.

Unit 5: The Apocryphal Psalms Discovered at Qumran

Article: Regev, E. "Sin, Atonement and Israelite Identity in the Words of the Luminaries in Relation to 1 Enoch's Animal Apocalypse," Hebrew Union College Annual 84-85 (2013-14), pp. 1-24.

Unit 6: The Halakhah in the Qumran Scrolls

Article: Regev, E. "Chercher les femmes: Were the yahad Celibates?" Dead Sea Discoveries 15.2  (2008), pp. 253-284.

Unit 7: The Contribution of the Qumran Inhabitants to Judaism and Christianity

Articles: Regev, E. “Temple and Righteousness in Qumran and Early Christianity: Tracing the Social Differences between the Two Movements”, in Daniel R. Schwartz and Ruth A. Clements (eds.), Text, Thought, and Practice in Qumran and Early Christianity. Proceedings of the Ninth International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, January 11-13, 2004. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah. (Leiden: Brill 2009), pp. 87-112.

Schiffman, L.H. "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the History of Judaism," Near Eastern Archaeology 63.3 (2000): 155-159.

Stuckenbruck, L. "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament," in N. David and A. Lange (eds.), Qumran and the Bible: Studying the Jewish Scriptures in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Leuven 2010, pp. 131-170.

Texts from the scrolls will be available on-line for the assignments.

General bibliography (not available in the course's on-line site):

Collins, J.J. Beyond the Qumran Community: The Sectarian Movement of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010.

García Martínez, F. and Tigchelaar, J.C. The Dead Sea Scroll Study Edition, 2 vols. Leiden, Grand Rapids and Cambridge 2000.  

Eshel, H. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Hasmonean State, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008.

Regev, E. Sectarianism in Qumran: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, Religion and Society Series 45, Berlin, Walter de Gruyter 2007.