In Methods of Investigation of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Khirbet Qumran Site a group of noted authorities present the first scholarly investigation into the Dead Sea Scrolls since full access to the materials for all scholars became the rule in late 1991. The text fully captures the still-controversial nature of the issues surrounding one of archaeology's most famous finds, from the history of the site itself to the fate of the lost Qumran coins, from methods of radiocarbon dating to the religious implications of the scrolls.
Chapter topics include the archaeology and history of the Khirbet Qumran site; studies on texts, methodologies, and new perspectives; the scrolls in the context of early Judaism; books, language, and history; and the texts and origins of the scrolls. Of particular interest is the volume's emphasis on evaluation of methodologies used in research on the scrolls and at the site. Methodologies are considered under four rubrics: textual interconnections (including reports on unpublished scroll materials), scribal and linguistic problems, archaeology, and historiography.
Contributors: Michael O. Wise, Norman Golb, John J. Collins, Dennis G. Pardee, Robert Donceel, Pauline Donceel-Voute, Jodi Magness, Joseph Patrich, Zdzislaw Jan Kapera, Eileen M. Schuller, P. Kyle McCarter, Jr., Michael A. Knibb, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J., Torleif Elgvin, Peter W. Flint, Matthias Klinghardt, James H. charlesworth, Al Wolters, Yaacov Shavit, Piotr Muchowski, Samuel Iwry, George J. Brooke, Robert Eisenman, James C. VanderKam, Phillip R. Callawy, and Uwe Glessmer.
