The above is a nice photograph of the great Isaiah Scroll from Qumran Cave 1 (about 120 B.C., the photo is from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem). In addition to what I mentioned two days back, the net newspaper Art Daily has provided additional information. “On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel, the Israel Museum presents two major sections of the Great Isaiah Scroll – the most complete biblical Dead Sea Scroll document ever found and one of the world’s greatest archaelogical treasures – in a special installation in the Shrine of the Book. For the first time in over forty years, the public will have the rare opportunity to view the two longest sections of the Scroll.” To read more from this article, continue here.

For two websites that provide helpful introductory material on Dead Sea Scrolls, click here and here. A website, hosted by Dr. James R. Davila (prefers being called “Jim”), that I check daily is Paleo Judaica. This is an excellent site for staying current on ancient Jewish history and literature, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

In the above picture (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehil), an employee of the Israel Museum “points at the ‘Book of Isaiah’ from the Dead Sea scrolls at the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, Tuesday May 13, 2008.” This is one of the most important Dead Sea Scrolls and it goes on display in Jerusalem this week, “more than four decades after it was last seen by the public. The 24-foot scroll with the text of the Bible’s Book of Isaiah had been in a dark, temperature-controlled room at the Israel Museum since 1967. It went on display two years earlier, but curators replaced it with a facsimile after noticing new cracks in the calfskin parchment.” The article continues here (HT: Jim Davila).

Complete seal bearing the Hebrew name “Rephaihu (ben) Shalem” (Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority)

As you look at the above seal, the name “Rephaihu…Shalem” is written in Palaeo-Hebrew. This script goes back to the days of Moses. Yesterday, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a brief article about the finding of seals, which included the one above, in the City of David that dated to the 8th century. “Finds recovered from the excavations in the City of David reveal an interesting development in the ancient world: whereas during the 9th century BCE letters and goods were dispatched on behalf of their senders without names, by the 8th century BCE the clerks and merchants had already begun to add their names to the seals.” Check out 8th Century BCE seals found at City of David excavations 27-Feb-2008 (HT: Jim Davila).