Deciphering the Dead Sea Scrolls

The second edition of this fascinating book is the ideal introduction to the importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls from Qumran and their impact on our understanding of the rise of Christianity.

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• Introduces the Qumran Scrolls to the uninitiated general reader.
  
• Explains how revolutionary the discovery of the Scrolls was and their enduring significance.
  
• Sets the Scrolls within the wider context of Jewish history and religion of the second temple period.
  
• Now expanded to include additional material about the scrolls themselves and recent theories about the community behind them.

This book is not available from Blackwell in the United States and the Philippines.

List of Plates.

List of Maps and Figures.

Text Acknowledgements.

Author's Acknowledgements.

Abbreviations.

1. What are the Dead Sea Scrolls?.

2. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible.

3. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Essenes.

4. An Essene Community at Qumran.

5. The Dead Sea Scrolls and Judaism.

6. Christianity Reconsidered.

7. Controversy and Conspiracy.

Appendix I.

Further Reading.

Notes.

Index.

"The new edition is somewhat expanded and brought up to date. The success and usefulness of Campbell's introduction is further demonstrated in a Polish translation of the work." Journal of Jewish Studies

Praise for the First Edition:

"Without being sensational, of all the popular introductions on the market this one explains best how revolutionary the discovery of the Scrolls really was."– Professor P. R. Davies, in Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

"In Deciphering the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jonathan Campbell, an established expert on Qumran, has written for students and the general reader a clear, well researched, balanced and highly informative account of the discovery of the Scrolls, the debates surrounding them, and their significance for a better understanding of ancient Judaism and the beginnings of Christianity." – Professor G. Vermes, author of The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English

Jonathan G. Campbell studied at Aberdeen and Oxford and has taught at the University of Wales, Lampeter. Since 1996, he has been teaching Biblical Studies, Hebrew and Judaism in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Bristol, where he is Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies and early Judaism. He has published widely on the Dead Sea Scrolls, including Use of Scripture in the Damascus Document (1995). Until recently he was Secretary to the British Association for Jewish Studies. Between 1947 and 1956, nearly 900 ancient Jewish manuscripts were found in remote caves near Khirbet Qumran on the edge of the Dead Sea. This authoritative and accessible book explains the nature and significance of these amazing manuscripts and the dramatic impact they have had on our understanding of religion in ancient Palestine. Cutting through scholarly controversies and conspiracy theories, it demonstrates how the Dead Sea Scrolls have transformed our comprehension of the Bible, Judaism in the time of Jesus, and the rise of Christianity.

In the second edition the main text, footnotes and bibliographies have all been thoroughly updated, and a new chapter added that expands the material on the identity of the community behind the scrolls and provides a helpful survey of the manuscripts. The book is an ideal introduction for anyone interested in either the Scrolls themselves, Jewish history and religion in the Second Temple period or the early Christian movement.