Dead Sea Scrolls on Microfiche
Edited by Emanuel Tov with the collaboration of Stephen J. Pfann, and published by E.J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands, 1993, under the auspices of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Accompanied by an index and history, Companion Volume to the Dead Sea Scrolls Microfiche Edition.
The Dead Sea Scrolls on Microfiche collects the Dead Sea Scrolls materials on photographic negatives, which are reproduced on 134 microfiche. These images comprise all of the presently available written material from the Judean Desert belonging to the Palestine Archaeological Museum (on negatives taken between 1950 and1967), the Israel Antiquities Authority (1967-present) and The Shrine of the Book Archives (1948-on), as well as some material from the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center.
The collection can be found in the Media Services room at 201 Love Library South, as can the companion book. Both are shelved on the auxillary shelving in the Southeast corner of the room.
- Love Mfiche BM 487 A052 1993
Love Library also owns the Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic Reference Library, a CD rom containing digitized images of all the biblical and non-biblical Dead Sea Scrolls.
- Love Ref BM 487 .D29 1997 (CD Rom work station 3)
Since many of the scrolls are difficult to read, comparing the CD rom images and the microfiche images may be necessary to find the most readable version. Light and dark exposures of the same scroll are available on the microfiche, while the CD Rom allows for electronic manipulation of the image's darkness and contrast.
Index
The index and guide to the collection, Companion Volume to the Dead Sea Scrolls Microfiche Edition, is filed with the microfiche. Within this volume you will find a chronological list of the negative numbers and an index referring those negative numbers to individual microfiche. The volume also contains a history of the Judean Desert discoveries and a description of the archaeological sites.
History
The first of the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947 in a cave (later named Qumran cave 1) along the northwest shore of the Dead Sea by a Bedouin shepherd, including seven preserved in a more or less complete form. Passing through the hands of a Bethlehem antiquities dealer, the authenticity and importance of the scrolls were determined. Excavation on Qumran cave 1 began in 1949. By 1956 ten other caves and many thousands of scroll fragments, preserved in clay jars, were eventually found in the area. Fragments of every book in the Old Testament were found, except for the Book of Esther. Non-biblical works include commentaries on the Old Testament, rules of the community, war conduct and hymns. Most are written in Hebrew, though some are in Aramaic and a few in Greek. The scrolls were apparently hidden away by a Jewish sect around the time of the First Roman Revolt (A.D. 66-70) as the Roman army advanced on the rebel Jews. The ancient ruins of Qumran, which were excavated in the 1950s, are nearby and are apparently related to the scrolls.
