Symposium: Qumran Cave 4 Texts Reconsidered
The main
focus of the symposium is the group of manuscript fragments from Qumran Cave 4
(4Q158-186), published by British scholar John M. Allegro in 1968. A re-edition
of these texts is now underway, under the direction of George J. Brooke (University of Manchester), and Moshe
J. Bernstein (Yeshiva
University, New York),
in cooperation with Jesper Høgenhaven
(University of Copenhagen).
A number of international Dead Sea Scrolls scholars will contribute to the
new text edition, which will replace Allegro's 1968 edition (Discoveries in
the Judaean Desert V). The
scholars in charge of the new edition will give papers at the symposium, which
is arranged jointly by the Universities of Manchester and Copenhagen. The re-edition is scheduled to
appear in 2010.
The fragments in Discoveries in the Judaean Desert V exhibit many
different genres: Biblical interpretation and rewriting, halakha, wisdom,
poetry, and astrology. During the past 40 years scholarly
interest has focused mainly on texts interpreting the Hebrew Bible. Often these
texts were viewed as particularly informative with regard to the history and
identity of the Qumran community. Recent
scholarship tends to focus less on ‘sectarian' aspects of the texts, and to
view this literature in a broader perspective, within the general setting of
ancient Judaism. The significance of literary genre for understanding the Dead Sea texts has been increasingly
acknowledged in recent years. The symposium will attempt an update of our
understanding of this particular group of texts and of the Qumran
library in general in its religious, literary, and historical context.
The new editions will contribute to ongoing research into the texts of
4Q158-186, and have long been a desideratum within Qumran
scholarship.
The 1968 edition is a ‘minimalist' edition with very sparse notes and
commentaries, and today it does not provide a reliable base for studying these significant
Qumran texts. Allegro was swift in publishing
his texts, and his early edition reflects a marked position in the debate on
how to make the Dead Sea Scrolls accessible to the scholarly community as well as the general
public. This aspect of the discussion will also be addressed at the symposium.
Qumran scholars contributing to
the symposium include: George J. Brooke, Moshe J.
Bernstein, Alex P. Jassen, Molly Zahn, Roman Vielhauer, Annette Steudel, Eibert Tigchelaar, Jutta
Jokiranta, Shani Berrin, Mladen
Popovic, Søren Holst,
Jesper Høgenhaven, Trine Bjørnung Hasselbalch.
For registration, please contact the University of Copenhagen,
Department of Biblical Exegesis (abe@teol.ku.dk).
For further information, please contact Jesper Høgenhaven (jh@teol.ku.dk) or Trine Bjørnung Hasselbalch (tbh@teol.ku.dk).