Wednesday, August 18, 2004

TWO ARTICLES ON THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS:
DNA to reveal source of Dead Sea Scrolls (Jerusalem Post)
By SARAH KATZ

Authorities are hoping that DNA testing of animal bones discovered in excavations at the Qumran plateau will reveal the origins of the Dead Sea Scrolls. . . .

Prof. Oren Gutfield of Hebrew University, who participated in the excavations, is attempting to ascertain the relationship between the scrolls and their place of discovery.

"What we will do now are DNA tests to these bones in order to compare DNA results from these animals with DNA of the Dead Sea Scrolls parchment. A connection was never found between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the site itself, but if a match is found it means that the people who lived in Qumran actually prepared the scrolls from animals at the site itself," Gutfield said.

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Archaeologists insist there was a community at Qumran (Ha'aretz)
By Amiram Barkat

The Qumran myth is alive and well, despite recent attempts to disprove it, according to archaeologists digging at the site.
The archaeologists, who are financed by Christian fundamentalist organizations, believe that despite recent theories to the contrary, there was a community at the place sometimes called "the oldest monastery in the Western world."

The archaeologists said at a news conference yesterday that they intend to find the proof that the residents of the site indeed wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, found in nearby caves.

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