Free Online Conference: The Dead Sea Scrolls in Recent Scholarship

The Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University (NYU) is hosting a free, four-day online conference, “The Dead Sea Scrolls in Recent Scholarship”, May 17-20, 2020.

Register for each day of the conference here.

DAY 1: Sunday, May 17 CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR DAY 1

1:00-2:30 PM EDT: Plenary Session

Chair and Opening Remarks – Alex Jassen, New York University

Welcome– Emily Master, Friends of the Israel Antiquities Authority &
Joe Uziel, Curator and Head of the Dead Sea Scrolls Unit

Contributions of the Israel Antiquities Authority to the Preservation and Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls – Pnina Shor, Israel Antiquities Authority

Where are We in the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls? – Lawrence H. Schiffman, New York University

2:30-3:00 PM EDT: Break

3:30-5:00 PM EDT: Canon and Authority

Before the Canon – The Role of Extra-biblical Literature in Second Temple Judaism – Armin Lange, University of Vienna

The Canon and the Canonical Process: The Evidence of the Scrolls – Eugene Ulrich, University of Notre Dame

Scribes as Authors in the Dead Sea Scrolls – Molly Zahn, University of Kansas

 

DAY 2: Monday, May 18 CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR DAY 2

9:00-11:00 AM EDT: Archaeology, Realia and Science

New Archaeological Investigations of Qumran Cave 3Q – Marcello Fidanzio, Faculty of Theology, Lugano

Inkwells residues as a Pre-screening Tool for Characterizing DSS Ink – Ilit Cohen-Ofri, Israel Antiquities Authority

Essenes at Masada – Jodi Magness, University of North Carolina

Trade and Manufacture at Qumran, with Special Attention to the Inscriptions – Sidnie White Crawford, University of Nebraska

11:00-11:30 AM EDT: BREAK

11:30 AM-12:30 PM EDT: Mimetic Performance in Ancient Judaism

Mimetic and Literary Performance in Ancient Judaism – Hindy Najman, Oxford University

Mimetic and Scribal Performance in Ancient Judaism – Eibert Tigchelaar, KU Leuven

12:30-1:00 PM EDT: BREAK

1:00-3:00 PM EDT: Interpreting Dead Sea Scrolls Texts

Jubilees and the Visions of Amram – James C. VanderKam, University of Notre Dame

Deciphering Fragments: Tefillin or an Amulet? – Ariel Feldman, Brite Divinity School

Reimagining Israel: The Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls and Judaism in the Hellenistic Period – Daniel Machiela, McMaster University

Digital Exploration of the Dead Sea Scrolls with Scripta Qumranica Electronica – Bronson Brown-deVost, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

 

DAY 3: Tuesday, May 19 CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR DAY 3

9:00-10:30 AM EDT: Science, Technology and the Scrolls

Researching the DSS with Imaging Technologies – Orit Rosengarten, Israel Antiquities Authority

Modern Forgeries: The Scientific Analysis of Dead Sea Scroll Fragments in the Museum of the Bible Collection – Colette Loll, Art Fraud Insights, LLC

The Hands that Wrote the Bible. Digital Palaeography of the Dead Sea Scrolls for Identifying and Dating Manuscripts – Mladen Popović and Maruf Dhali, University of Groningen

10:30-11:00AM EDT: BREAK

11:00 AM-12:30 PM EDT: Ideology and Theology

Virtue Signaling in the Dead Sea Scrolls – Charlotte Hempel, University of Birmingham

Metaphysics of Financial Relations in Qumran Wisdom – Jonathan Ben-Dov, Haifa University

Patterns of Prayer in the Dead Sea Scrolls – George Brooke, University of Manchester

12:30-1:00 PM EDT: BREAK

1:00-3:00 PM EDT: Qumran and the Sect

Women in the Sectarian Texts from Qumran – Esther Chazon, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for Reconstructing the Life and Message of Jesus – Cecilia Wassén, Uppsala University

Why NOT the Essenes: How to Talk about the Dead Sea Sectarians – Maxine Grossman, University of Maryland

The Sectarian Movement and Qumran – John Collins, Yale University

 

DAY 4: Wednesday, May 20, 2020 CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR DAY 4

9:00-11:00 AM EDT: Hebrew Bible and it Interpretation

The Many Faces of the Bible in the Dead Sea Scrolls – Emanuel Tov, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Reworked Pentateuch and Genesis Apocryphon: Close or Distant Relatives? – Moshe Bernstein, Yeshiva University

“2300 Evenings and Mornings” (Dan 8:13-14) Recalculated according to the Damascus Document – Michael Segal, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Perfect Marriage in the Genesis Apocryphon – Esther Eshel, Bar-Ilan University

11:00-11:30 AM EDT: BREAK

11:30 AM-1:00 PM EDT: Cave 11 and the Temple Scroll

Treasures from a Small Box: Recently Discovered Fragments from Cave 11 – Oren Ableman, Israel Antiquities Authority

The Hydra-headed Mysteries of the Temple Scroll – Andrew D. Gross, Catholic University of America

The Utopian Temple Plan of the Temple Scroll – Lawrence H. Schiffman, New York University

1:00-1:30 PM EDT: BREAK

1:30-3:00 PM EDT: Law and Liturgy

What Was Given on Mt. Sinai? – Cana Werman, Ben-Gurion University

Law and Order in the Dead Sea Scrolls – Sarianna Metso, University of Toronto

The Early Study of Jewish Law in the Damascus Document – Alex Jassen, New York University

3:00-3:30 Close of Conference and Thanks

Lawrence H. Schiffman, New York University &
Emily Master, Friends of the Israel Antiquities Authority

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70 Years of Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls

On August 6, 2017, at the 17th World Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, the first plenary session celebrated “70 Years of Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls”. The four papers look at various ways in which the Dead Sea Scrolls enhance our knowledge of early Jewish literature.

Chairperson: Esther Chazon

Devorah Dimant: The Dead sea Scrolls and the Jewish Apocryphal Literature

Emmanuel Tov: The Exegesis of the Bible Enriched by the Dead Sea Scrolls

Hindy Najman: Rethinking the Contours of the Biblical Corpus through the Lens of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Michael Segal: On Writing and Rewriting in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls

On January 28, 2011, Professor Hindy Najman delivered a lecture on Jewish responses to the destruction of the First and Second Temples, “Overcoming Destruction in Ancient Judaism”, at King’s University College at Western University, Canada.

In this lecture we will explore the struggles of ancient Jewish communities to redefine themselves in the aftermath of the destruction of the first and second temples.  What role did prayer and interpretation play in their literary witnesses from this period?  Was human-divine interaction still understood as imaginable when the Jewish community was bereft of its temple, land and independence?

Philosemitism and Antisemitism in Biblical Criticism

On November 22, 2017, Professor Hindy Najman (Oriel College, Oxford University) presented a paper on “Philosemitism and Antisemitism in Biblical Criticism” at Tel Aviv University. There was also a reply from Dr. Ofri Ilany (The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute) and a further response from Prof Najman.

The Phoenicians never existed: Josephine Quinn

Associate Professor Josephine Quinn (University of Oxford) discusses her book, In Search of the Phoenicians (Princeton University Press, 2017), with responses by Hindy Najman (University of Oxford) and Stephanie Dalley (Oriental Studies, University of Oxford). The panel is chaired by John Watts (University of Oxford). The panel took place on April 25, 2018, as is part of the University of Oxford’s Book at Lunchtime series.

The Phoenicians traveled the Mediterranean long before the Greeks and Romans, trading, establishing settlements, and refining the art of navigation. But who these legendary sailors really were has long remained a mystery. In Search of the Phoenicians makes the startling claim that the “Phoenicians” never actually existed. Taking readers from the ancient world to today, this monumental book argues that the notion of these sailors as a coherent people with a shared identity, history, and culture is a product of modern nationalist ideologies—and a notion very much at odds with the ancient sources.

• Torch: The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities