The Skin that Makes the Dead Sea Scrolls

Posted on November 24, 2015

dead sea scrolls pictureThe Skin of the Dead Sea Scrolls

By Brandon Lund

A museum for most people is a place where learning through an immediate encounter with something rare is expected. The glassy thoroughfares, the collections each asking for attention from an audience, oftentimes give way to a perspective that is closer to a handshake than a classroom. The Dead Sea Scrolls create an immediate understanding that is unique because the audience is no longer reading about history they are observing history from its inception. Perhaps the richest and most rewarding aspect of the Dead Sea Scrolls is the biblical context.

Twelve Psalms from the Bible, written on animal skin in Hebrew, can be observed alongside portions of Exodus.  The handwriting, the detail and implied skill, begins to humanize and focus their creation.  Most people spend their entire lives struggling with notions of hereafter, death, reward of life, and morality; to stand within a respective step of an original piece of animal skin inscribed with biblical text and see the ancient scribes handwriting begins to create a sense of moving forward. These biblical prayers, poems, and narratives do have their origins.

Leading to the room-size circular glass display showing pieces of Scripture and parchment is a series of Iron Age arrowheads and water jugs. The character of these pieces is obvious. The arrowheads speak of need and hunger. The rust showcases their fragility but their age begins to reveal a world that was perhaps dangerous in many ways that the audience does not understand without further study.  The displays are not exactly art but the humanity involved in their creation is obvious.

Creativity tends to hold a person’s focus and one cannot help but feel that these bronze-age coins and ancient water jugs were created for aesthetic purposes instead of utility.  A Galilean Pithos with delicate fissures and threads of age that have endured stares at the viewer like a totem.  The apparitional affect is theatrical and one cannot help but feel the desert’s withering heat lifting from these ancient pots and coins.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, showcased at the California Science Center, was short but the experience was not without its high points. The little tiny pieces of text, sometimes biblical sometimes non-biblical, begin to create the effect of people involved in the creation of history. Their presence is ghostly and their priorities range from poetry to narrative wisdom. I do recommend the experience but perhaps historical impact and not the duration of the tour is the strong point of the venue.

7,277 thoughts on “The Skin that Makes the Dead Sea Scrolls”

  2. nike air max 1 ultra moire gym red gym red university red deep burgundy team red 705297 600 2015 january 8 130 says:

    nike air foamposite classnike roshe run kid volt rainbow red purplekobe bryant sneakers rose goldnike free 3.0 v5 cool grey metallic silver anthracite white mens
    nike air max 1 ultra moire gym red gym red university red deep burgundy team red 705297 600 2015 january 8 130 http://www.french-aix-en-provence.com/shipping/nike-air-max-1-ultra-moire-gym-red-gym-red-university-red-deep-burgundy-team-red-705297-600-2015-january-8-130

    Reply

  8. I am in fact happy to read this weblog posts which includes tons of valuable data,
    thanks for providing such information.

    Reply

  9. Hi! Someone in my Myspace group shared this website with us so I came to take a
    look. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m book-marking and
    will be tweeting this to my followers! Excellent blog and terrific design and style.

    Reply

  25. If some one needs expert view concerning running a blog then i
    propose him/her to visit this webpage, Keep up
    the pleasant work.

    Reply

  29. Hi just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few of the
    images aren’t loading properly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking
    issue. I’ve tried it in two different browsers and both show the
    same outcome.

    Reply

  35. In fact no matter if someone doesn’t know then its up to other viewers that they
    will help, so here it occurs.

    Reply

  44. Удивительно полезный веб-ресурс…
    Я нашел его в то время, как искал Yahoo News.
    У вас есть какие-нибудь рекомендации, как попасть в Yahoo News?
    Я какое-то время пытался, однако, похоже, так никогда туда не доберусь)
    Благодарю:)

    Reply

  45. For an additional cost of around 10 dollars per person,
    it is possible to make use of the VIP package. Chad is unlike one of
    the boys within the town, and Natalie is interested in the apparent
    dark side as part of his persona. In this way the patter will
    end up a part of the trick in your mind, and you may carry
    on a running fire of talk without hesitating or laboring over it
    like it were a memorized speech.

    Reply

  49. I am extremely impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your weblog.
    Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself?
    Anyway keep up the excellent quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like this one today.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to air jordan future cheesecake Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *