60 Years with the Dead Sea Scrolls Part 2

In this issue, we offer Part 2 of our coverage of the 60th anniversary of the scrolls’ discovery. We begin with a question—Who wrote the scrolls?—and then take a look at the prevailing theories about who owned them, copied them and hid them in caves as Roman troops advanced across the Judean Desert in 68 C.E.

We also continue our series “The Dead Sea Scrolls: How They Changed My Life,”, with Oxford don Geza Vermes, who recounts his work on the historical framework of the scrolls, and New York University’s Lawrence H. Schiffman, who discusses how the scrolls have enlightened our understanding of Judaism.