New Directions in Qumran Studies

Description

Fifty years after the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls there have been many advances in the field of Qumran Studies. Yet much work remains undone. In particular the study of the scrolls has continued to follow long established historical critical methods while largely failing to incorporate recent advances in literary, ideological and sociological approaches. The essays collected here are the result of the Bristol Colloquium on the Dead Sea Scrolls held in September 2003. Here, ten scholars working in a diversity of areas demonstrate how these recent advances in scholarship increase our knowledge of the scrolls, their historical context, and their impact on modern critical scholarship. The contributors consider a wide range of approaches, ranging across discussions in sociology, anthropology, literary studies, post-colonialism and ideological criticism. These essays will help to take Qumran Studies forward in new and creative ways. This is volume 52 in the Library of Second Temple Studies series (formerly the Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement series).

William John Lyons is Reader in Religion and History in the Department of History, University of Bristol, UK Jonathan G. Campbell is Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Early Judaism at the University of Bristol. Lloyd Keith Pietersen received his Ph.D. from the Department of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield.

'This exciting collection of essays explores the applicatoin of new methods to the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, with a special, but not exclusive, interest in social-scientific approaches...This is a seminal collection that I recommend highly for scholars and postgraduates working on the Dead Sea Scrolls and related ancient literature. James R. Davila * Journal for the Study of the New Testament *