The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered

Placed in caves almost 2000 years ago and not discovered until 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls provide a unique insight into Jewish and Christian origins. They have held a fascination over academics, religious leaders, and the lay public alike for the last 45 years. From 1952, when a team of scholars was appointed and Cave 4 at Qumran was discovered -- from which the materials in this book are drawn -- they have been under the control of an elite and secretive clique. However, in the autumn of 1991, this monopoly was effectively broken when the Huntington Library in California announced it would allow public access to its collection of Dead Sea Scrolls photographs. This was soon followed by the publication of a Facsimile Edition by the Biblical Archaeology Society in Washington DC. Robert Eisenman was integrally involved in both events, and with Michael Wise had been working behind the scenes on the unpublished photographs for some time. Their discovery of a tiny Scroll fragment of six lines referring to the execution of or by a Messianic Leader plunged them into a long-running debate. Scholars previously controlling access to the Scrolls had been publically contending that there was nothing interesting in the remaining unpublished Scrolls and nothing throwing further light on Christianity's rise in Palestine. The conclusions of Professor Eisenman and Professor Wise gainsay and challenge these views. The present work is the result. - Jacket flap.