The Hidden Scrolls: Christianity, Judaism, & the War for the Dead Sea Scrolls

Front Cover
Riverhead Books, 1996 - Religion - 306 pages
In this engrossing book, Neil Asher Silberman, noted writer and scholar, tells the double story of the Dead Sea Scrolls: the ancient saga of the people of the small province of Judea, whose fiercely nationalistic, Temple-centered religion was cruelly suppressed by the might of the Roman Empire; and the modern account of scholarly intrigue and political power plays swirling around one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century. The true significance of the scrolls, Silberman argues is as precious testimony to the Judeans' response to Roman oppression that was widespread at the time of Jesus: a revolutionary rage--accompanied by a passionate belief in the imminent arrival of a messiah--which was brutally crushed in the course of local uprisings against Rome. Both Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism, which arose from the ashes of destruction and exile, are but meek religions compared with the fervent faith expressed in the scrolls.

Dispassionate, readable, and lively, "The Hidden Scrolls adds energy and drama to the story of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

From inside the book

Contents

DISCOVERY AT QUMRAN
28
THE INNER CIRCLE
68
SECRET MESSIAH
104
Copyright

4 other sections not shown

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (1996)

Neil Asher Silberman studied under Israel's greatest archaeologist, Yigael Yadin, and worked for the Israel Department of Antiquities. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University and continued his studies at Yale University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Institute of Archaeology. He is the recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship (1991-92) and has written a number of well-received books on the ancient Near East, such as Digging for God and Country, Between Past and Present, and A Prophet from Amongst You: The Life of Yigael Yadin; Soldier, Scholar, and Mythmaker of Modern Israel. In addition, he has held editorial positions at Archaeology Magazine, Biblical Archaeologist, and the Oxford Companion to World Archaeology. Mr. Silberman lives in Branford, Connecticut with his wife and daughter and is currently working on his fifth book.

Bibliographic information