Mystery or History: The Dead Sea Scrolls as Pop Phenomenon

Grossman, Maxine L.

doi:10.1163/1568517053272332

Cited by 4 publications

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“…The Dead Sea Scrolls continue to have a significant and far-reaching impact both within the academic and popular spheres. The different 'rules' governing academic and popular discourse (Grossman, 2005) can and have led to differences of interpretation and perception, resulting in what may at times seem like a yawning chasm between the twoa chasm which educational initiatives have often sought to bridge. Although their significance for scholarship is clear and undisputed, there is no inherent reason why this obscure collection of ancient and heavily fragmented Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts should have captured the public imagination in quite the way it has.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Scholarly and Popular Reception

Collins¹

2019

T&T Clark Companion to the Dead Sea Scrolls

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For more than two-thirds of a century, the Dead Sea Scrolls have left a trail of intrigue and controversy in their wake. They have had an immeasurable impact, not only within the realms of academia and scholarship, but also upon the wider world, thanks to the widespread permeation of the scrolls into popular culture. On the one hand, they have provided scholars with a previously unimaginable wealth of textual material from the Second Temple period (shedding light, for instance, on the literature and social, political and religious world of the intertestamental era, as well as the transmission history of the scriptural texts), while on the other, the infamy resulting from years of restricted access and the consequent perceived secrecy surrounding their content has made them attractive to a fascinated public, for whom 'the Dead Sea Scrolls' constitutes 'a cultural "buzz-phrase" signifying mystery, conspiracy, and ancient or hidden knowledge' (Collins, 2011, p. 227). Indeed, both the extent to which the scrolls have permeated the public sphere and the position which they occupy can be aptly demonstrated by their inclusion in the studio set design for the popular BBC quiz programme QI ('Quite Interesting' [prod. John Lloyd and Piers Fletcher; BBC, 2003-]). A section of the large Cave 1 text of the Hodayot (the 'Thanksgiving Hymns') appears in a prominent position directly behind the host, Stephen Fry, alongside an astrological chart, the Rosetta Stone, and a series of scientific equations (see Figure 5.1). 1 That viewers have one of the Dead Sea Scrolls staring them in the face for most of the duration of the programme (whether they're aware of it or not) is 'quite interesting' in itself, but for those who do recognize it, the choice of this image and the context in which it is depicted are also rather telling, betraying an implicit association with higher learning and obscure or concealed knowledge.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the role of the media in the popularization of the scrolls, see:Brooke, 2005;Grossman, 2005;Schiffman, 2005. …”

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confidence: 99%