Written by Milissa Hudepohl . Photography by Brian Ambs

Dead Sea Scrolls: A WINDOW INTO THE WORLD THAT CREATED WESTERN CULTURE

The Cincinnati Museum Center is located at 1301 Western Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45203. You can reach them at 513.287.7000 or visit their website at www.cincymuseum.org.

In order to truly understand present day Western culture, one must analyze the source of its foundation – the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament – which took form in ancient Israel during the biblical era. This text, composed of interactions of the Israelites and their god, shaped the Western world and gave rise to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, religions with a following of more than a third of today’s world population.

The oldest known copies of the Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, are currently on display at Cincinnati Museum Center. Deemed the most comprehensive collection of ancient artifacts from Israel ever organized, the exhibition, Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Ancient Times, showcases 10 authentic scrolls, and more than 600 artifacts from the Biblical to the Byzantine period in Israel. Until April, guests can explore the history of the area in which the scrolls were created and their unique connection to the Cincinnati area.

“The exhibit is meant to take people on a journey back through time to a different part of the world,” says Dr. Risa Levitt Kohn, the exhibition’s co-curator. “It’s a chance for visitors to under-stand the world that created the scrolls, the world that created the Western culture.”

In 1947, three of the 2,000-year-old scrolls, which gave the Israelites a universal culture, a set of laws, a national identity, and a connection with the land, were discovered by a shepherd in a cave along the shore of the Dead Sea. After extensive search-ing in similar natural caves over a 10-year period, a total of 972 preserved, handwritten texts were found, including the earliest

Biblical texts ever discovered. Considered among the world’s greatest archaeological discoveries, the scrolls provide a spiritual map of ancient Israel, and insights into their community views and religious practices.

“The scrolls provide us with a window into a world that we had a very narrow view of before their discovery,” says Jason Kalman, an associate professor at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati.

To protect the organic, animal-skin material, light exposure, tem-perature, and humidity levels are closely monitored. In February, the current set of scrolls will be switched out with a different set of ten authentic scrolls. Due to their fragility, the scrolls can withstand only three months of light, after which they are stored in darkness for 12 months.

The collection of authentic artifacts showcased in the exhibi-tion expands the understanding of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the era in which they were written. Objects, including remains of religious articles, weapons of war, stone carvings, textiles, mosa-ics, household items, and jewelry, paint a picture of the ancient Israelites’ daily lives. Many of the artifacts displayed were discov-ered during recent archaeological excavations in Jerusalem and have never been publicly exhibited before now.

At the exhibit, guests can peer inside a replication of “four room house,” the typical rectangular domestic unit with a central courtyard surrounded by three rooms. They can marvel at jars that belonged to the king, characteristic samples of monumental architecture, and household relics. As part of a replication of a section of the Western Wall, guests can stand next to, touch and

leave prayers and notes on an actual three-ton stone believed to have fallen from the Second Temple’s outer wall during Roman fighting in 70 CE. And, they can study engraved stones, such as the one inscribed with Five Branch Menorah, and ossuaries with inscriptions including the names “Jesus,” “Mary,” and “Joseph.”

“The breadth of the collection is unusual,” Kohn says. “Each indi-vidual object contributes to the visitor’s understanding of the story.”

After guests explore the history of ancient Israel and the Dead Sea Scrolls, they have the opportunity to learn about Cincin-nati’s role in the scrolls’ narrative. After their discovery in 1947, Hebrew Union College Cincinnati helped Israel recover some of the scrolls from antiquities dealers.

In 1969, two years after the Six-Day War in the Middle East, Hebrew Union College Cincinnati funded the creation of photo-graphic negative copies of the scrolls out of fear that the origi-nals might be destroyed, and hid them in Cincinnati until the late 1980s. Although not allowed to study the negatives, faculty mem-bers at Hebrew Union College Cincinnati later made news again by recreating some of the scroll texts through computerized reas-sembly of Israeli-provided indexes of words found in the scrolls. The exhibition features the negatives, original videos, photos, and the actual equipment used to study the scrolls.

The exhibition offers more than just the traditional walk-through. Guests can learn about the Dead Sea Scrolls through the free Insights Lecture Series. Upcoming lectures include Jewish and Christian Origins as Revealed by the Dead Sea Scrolls on January 29, The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls on February

4, and The Impact of the Dead Sea Scrolls on Our Bible on March 7. Guests of all ages can also attend programs, classes and tours that are available at Museum Center and throughout the city.

“The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit has attracted a large audience,” Kalman says. “They’ve become sort of religious relics. This is the closest we can get to the people of the biblical era.”

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Ancient Times was created by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) from the collections of the Israel National Treasures, and produced by Discovery Times Square and the Franklin Institute. Local community partners in-clude Presenting Sponsor: The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati, and Associate Sponsors: the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the Dio-cese of Southern Ohio, SC Ministry Foundation, Office of the Provost, University of Cincinnati, and Xavier University, among others. Hebrew Union College Cincinnati is a special exhibit partner. v

Above: Visitors journey into biblical Israel, examining its cultural history in detail through small objects including coins and pottery sherds. Right, pictured left to right: Brian Jaffee Executive Director, The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati; Jonathan Cohen, Dean, Hebrew Union College Cincinnati; and Jason Kalman, Associate Professor at Hebrew Union College Cincinnati. Opposite page: Visitors view everyday objects from ancient Israel, some dating back 3,000 years.

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