Friday, August 15, 2008

"Shrine of the Book" - Tiffany Vauters







Project Write-Up:


Along the shore of the Dead Sea in 1947, a young Bedawin Shepherd stumbled across what has been called the most important archaeological find of the 20th Century, the Dead Sea Scrolls. The original found of 7 scrolls grew over 10 yrs into a vast library of over 800 ancient manuscripts. A find that captured the public's imagination and promised to reveal secrets about Ancient Judea that could possibly rock the foundation of the worlds major religions. The Shrine of the Book is home to the Dead Sea Scrolls, among them, the world’s oldest copy of Biblical books. It is also home to rare biblical manuscripts from later periods, such as the Aleppo Codex. Besides the two thousand year old scrolls, found at Khirbet Qumran in the Judean Desert, archaeologist finds are also exhibited.
The Shrine of the Book, inaugurated in 1965 as part of the Israel Museum, is located near the government institutions of the States of Israel. The Building was designed by architects Armand Bartos and Fredrick Kiesler and is one of the architectural milestones of the past-World War II era. Its uniqueness lies in its sacred aura and in the way it conveys spiritual messages though the language of architecture The white dome on the right resembles the lids of the jars in which three of the first Dead Sea Scrolls were found. The dome and the black basalt was opposite it allude to the tension expressed in the scrolls between the “Sons of light,” and the Dead Sea Sectarians referred to themselves and the “Sons of Darkness,” their enemies. The water sprayed onto the dome represents the concept of purity, which is a major aspect of sectarian life.
On exhibit when you first walk into the Shrine of the Book is the “Book of Isaiah” The eight key points of the “Book of Isaiah display are: It was the first of seven scrolls discovered in 1947, view her are chapters 1:1-28:24 and 44:23-66:24, this display had not been exhibited for forty years, it is the 2nd longest reaching 734cm, it is the best preserved, it is the only one that contains the entire book, it is the oldest of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the book of Isaiah is 1,000 years older than the oldest manuscripts of the Bible. The book of Isaiah displays ink on parchment and it was found in Qumran in cave 1. Of the 220 Biblical scrolls and 700 scrolls of other types found in the area. Dating from 120 BCE, it is also one of the oldest of the Dead Sea Scrolls, some one thousand years older than the oldest manuscript of the Bible known to us before the scrolls’ discovery. The version of the text is close to the masoretic version codified in medieval codices, such as the Aleppo Codex. Around 20 additional copies of the Book of Isaiah were also found at Qumran, as well as six pesharim, which is exegetical works, based on the book; Isaiah is also frequently quoted in other scrolls. The prominence of the Book of Isaiah is consistent with the messianic beliefs of the community living at Qumran; Since Isaiah is known for his prophecies concerning the End of Days.
As you travel down the tunnel of the Shrine of the Book on display are the life, experiences, purpose, and artifacts in correlation with those who lived in the caves of Qumran, for instance on display were old leather sandals that the sectarians wore in the desert. The Sectarians regarded the desolation of the desert as a symbol of purity and eschatological paradise, and a refuge from corruption of society and culture, in the spirit of the Pentateuch and the Prophets.
As you move along further in the Shrine of the Book you would see cases filled with manuscripts, scrolls, documents and stories on the following topics: “The Temple Scroll”, “Prayers, Hymns, and Thanksgiving Psalms”, “The War of the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness”, “Study and Writing”, “Apocrypha in the Scrolls”, “Sectarian Scrolls: The Pesharime”, ‘The Community Rule: The Sect’s Code”, “Aleppo Codex”, “From sacred books to Canon”, “Song of the Sea: An Unknown Scroll Fragment”, “The Birth of the Aleppo Codex”, “The Craft of the Medieval Scribe”, “From Egypt to Aleppo”, “The Fame of the Aleppo Codex”, “Ceremonial objects of the Jewish Community of Aleppo”, “Saving the Aleppo Codex”, “The Aleppo Codex Disappears”, “Maimonides and the Aleppo Codex” and “The Aleppo Codex”.
This is the portion of the Shrine of the Book that is in side the dome that you view from the outside, which represents the “Sons of Light”. Some of the exhibits are on the main floor and then there is a portion below on a basement level. Out of the array of exhibits in this section there were just a few that caught my attention. For instance, “The Temple Scroll”. It is said to be the longest scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls about 24 ft. in length with 66 columns of text. The second display was, “The War of the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness”: The sons of light were the sectarians, they came out of a community called the “yahad” and their goal was to return to Jerusalem to engage in the proper worship of God in the future temple as described in “The New Jerusalem” scroll. The following show case was the “Apocrypha in the scrolls” were it featured the verse in the bible from Ecclesiastes 12:12, it says, “Against them my son, be warned! The making of many books is without limit. At “The Community Rule: The Sect’s Code” case listed the rules of behaviors at communal meals, theological principles, and admittance of New Members into the community. On site architects found many of the tools that the scribes used in writing and keeping the maintenance of these holy scrolls, in the show case called: “The Craft of the Medieval Scribes”. The Scribes worked seated on the floor or small mattress. They had a flat board that lay over their knees. The scribes would either do dictations or copying word for word from other books on parchment or papyrus paper, later using paper. The stylus or quill pen dipped in an ink well was what the scribes used on the scrolls. Other artifacts that were found in the assistance on creating the scrolls were paper cutters, scissors and a writing box. The next archeological find that really caught my attention was the “Song of Sea”. This was an unknown scroll fragment. The manuscript was from the silent era, somewhere between the 3rd and 8th century CE. After much review the “Song of Sea” were fragments of a Torah scroll, part of the Book of Exodus 13:9-16:1. The scroll on display is addressed as The Song of Sea 15:1-19 celebrating the Israelites safe crossing of the Red Sea.
I want to conclude with the last of the 3 major features of the Shrine of the Book. There were several exhibits about the Aleppo Codex that were fascinating to read and see. The Aleppo Codex is seen as a fulfillment of the words of the prophet Isaiah 2:3, saying “ And many people shall go and say, Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem”. The Aleppo Codex comprised all 24 books of the Bible. Originally it had 480 leaves, but only 295 of them survived. It is the most accurate existing manuscript of the Masoretic text; sometimes the text is almost identical to the Masoretic text. To date, only one complete page with a passage from the book of Chronicles, small fragments of a page of Exodus. There are also parts that are presently missing, which are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy 1:1-28:17, II Kings 14:21-18:13, Jeremiah 29:1-31 and verses from chapter 32, Amos 8:12 to the end of that book, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah 1:1-5:1, the last verse of Zephaniah, Haggiah, Zechariah 1:1-9:17, Psalms 15-25:2, Song of Songs – starting from the end of chapter 3 to the end of the book of Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. The Aleppo Codex was and sometimes used as the standard text in the correction of books. It’s a symbol that represents the idea of the rebirth of the Jewish people after 2000 years of wondering, exile and near annihilation. With the help of the Aleppo Codex, the Hebrew Bible called the Tanakh is said to have paved the way for the New Testament and the Koran. So, once again all three major religions are encompassed in on the most important archaeological digs of the 20th century; A dig that has brought the eyes of the world to look upon Israel and Jerusalem in a positive, insightful, and uplifting way. On great demand the Dead Sea Scrolls have traveled all over the world from 2000-until now. Here are just a few of the places that the Dead Sea Scrolls have done exhibits: The Korean War Memorial Museum, San Diego Natural History Museum, Field Museum of Chicago, North Carolina Museum, Union Station Kansas, and The Van Andel Museum in Grand Rapids, MI. As we can see this Holy Document is one that is treasured both in Jerusalem and the outer most parts of the world.

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