Dead Sea Archives - Page 28 of 30

The Dead Sea, Then and Now

The waters of the Dead Sea rise and fall. You may not know that if you only read the newspapers and not the history books. Climate change has affected the earth as long as we can tell. There’s a great demonstration of the historically changing levels (and therefore shape) of the Dead Sea recently created by A.D. Riddle and David Parker. (After you click that link and read the introduction, click on the “Play” button on the right side and you’ll see the water level rise and fall.)

Evidence of the changing water levels is not so easily seen at the Dead Sea today. There is one spot on the northwestern corner (south of Qumran) where a marker made by the Palestine Exploration Fund in the early 1900s shows the level above today’s current highway.

Another evidence is visible from boat docks. The photo below was taken by the American Colony sometime in the first half of the 20th century, showing passengers embarking on boats on the Dead Sea. Today there is little boat traffic and almost no windsurfers or waterskiiers. That’s not the only thing that has changed, as evidenced by the second photo below.

The photo below is not the same dock, but it illustrates the declining water level. This photo was included in a recent issue of Biblical Archaeology Review in an article making the same point.

Dead Sea dock out of water, February 2005

The top photograph is from the newly published Southern Palestine volume of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection (originally Library of Congress, LC-matpc-07571). It is one of a series of 65 photos of the western shore of the Dead Sea included in the collection.

Tagged American Colony Photos, Dead Sea, Then and Now

Oil Consortium to Drill at Dead Sea

Arutz-7 reports:

An oil drilling consortium which includes companies that found billions of dollars in natural gas off the Haifa coast will begin in October to look for black gold in an area along the Dead Sea, according to Delek Group chief executive officer Yitzchak Tshuva. He said that the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) has consented to the drilling after the consortium agreed to invest half a million dollars to protect the rich nature reserves in the area from damage during the exploration. Investors’ hopes of finding oil in Israel are based on seismic surveys that estimate that Dead Sea oil reserves are worth nearly half a billion dollars. Delek heads the consortium that earlier this year discovered rich gas reserves approximately 50 miles west of Haifa, and estimates of the value of the gas have more than doubled since the first reports. Tshuva said last month that he foresees Israel becoming self-sufficient in energy in the near future, with the Jewish State possibly becoming an exporter of gas.

The complete article is here.

Tagged Dead Sea

The Copper Scroll, Code Cracked?

The Copper Scroll is certainly one of the most intriguing of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The only text inscribed on two copper sheets, it lists the location of sixty treasures apparently in Judah in the period before the First Jewish Revolt in A.D. 70. Many scholars believe that the list is authentic, but despite numerous efforts of the years no one has ever found any of the treasure.

The Jerusalem Post reports on an Oklahoma fire marshal named Jim Barfield who believes that he knows the location of not just one or two hiding places, but 56 of them.

After looking at the scroll for five minutes he deciphered the first location, and twenty minutes later he identified the next four locations. He and his wife took their first trip to Israel to confirm whether the sites and places that he had identified actually existed. “I wanted to make sure I wasn’t just imagining things,” Barfield said. It took six months for Barfield to crack the code for the rest of the locations.

This guy is pretty good. He was able to figure out the locations without ever being to Israel, without knowing the language that the inscription is written in, and without having any background in archaeology or geography.

It’s nice to know what others think about his discovery:

He says that all of the archaeologists, rabbis, and historians presented with his research have been convinced. “It is so simple.” He says. “They just all thump their heads.”

Unfortunately, we only get it in Barfield’s words.

I don’t know enough to say that this guy is a fraud, only that he sounds like one. If he actually has found something, he should go dig it out and then report on it. But if he’s a publicity hound, I can write the script for the next few years: initial attempts will be stymied by various obstacles, during which time he’ll do many interviews and attempt to raise lots of money. When he finally digs at one of his spots, he’ll find nothing – no treasure and no indication that any treasure was ever hidden there. He’ll claim that it was stolen in antiquity (another round of interviews and appeals for cash) and start planning for a second excavation. Efforts to dig will be hindered by various obstacles, during which time he’ll do many interviews and attempt to raise lots of money. Etc.

The article itself is worth reading as it provides interesting and accurate information about the Copper Scroll. You can find an introduction to and translation of the scroll in Florentino Garcia Martinez, The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated, 2nd ed., pages 459-63. An excellent reference is the Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (2 volumes).

Tagged Analysis, Dead Sea

Video: Search for Sodom and Gomorrah

Ferrell Jenkins links to a new video on the excavations of Tall el-Hammam, believed by Steven Collins to be biblical Sodom. The 10-minute video is well-produced and the excavator’s arguments are easy to understand. I don’t need to make every mention of this excavation on this blog an occasion to disagree, but it is difficult to let certain statements slide by. Besides that, conservative Bible believers like myself are used to hearing critical dismissals from those who don’t trust the Bible. But just because something is opposed by critics does not mean that it is automatically right!

The problem, I believe, is that Collins’ statement “right place, right time” dooms his identification.

Finding ancient sites that have Middle Bronze occupation and then a gap until Iron Age is not difficult. That’s what Collins has found. This and the others in the area are no doubt important sites, but it does not fit the biblical data about Sodom. Collins concludes with the presentation with this statement:

Every turn of the spade at Tall el-Hammam reinforces the occupational profile predicted for Sodom from the Bible.

If this statement was negative, it would be accurate. That is, Tall el-Hammam does not match the occupational profile for Sodom given in the Bible.

Sodom, according to the Bible:

Intermediate Bronze (aka EB IV/MB I; 2300-2000 BC): occupied and destroyed
Middle Bronze (2000-1500 BC): not occupied
Late Bronze (1500-1200 BC): not occupied
Iron Age (1200-600 BC): not occupied

Tall el-Hammam, according to the excavations:

Intermediate Bronze (aka EB IV/MB I; 2300-2000 BC): occupied
Middle Bronze (2000-1500 BC): occupied [Sodom was not]
Late Bronze (1500-1200 BC): not occupied
Iron Age (1200-600 BC): occupied [Sodom was not]

With regard to the Middle Bronze occupation, understand this: you must revise the biblical dates in order for Collins’ identification to match the archaeology. He lowers the date of Abraham in order to create a match with his excavation results. The traditional biblical dating of the destruction of Sodom is approximately 2100 BC, but the Middle Bronze Age ends about 500 years later. (The key references that establish the biblical dating are Exodus 12:40 and 1 Kings 6:1.)

With regard to the Iron Age occupation, there is not one reference in the Bible to Sodom being occupied during this time. There are many references from the end of the Iron Age that indicate that its destruction testified to God’s judgment (Isa 1:9; 13:19-20; Jer 50:40; Amos 4:11; Zeph 2:9). This would hardly be the case for a city that was rebuilt and thriving as Tall el-Hammam was.

Understand, I want to believe. The data just gets in the way.

My previous posts on this site may be found here and here. Steven Collins has written a number of articles about Tall el-Hammam which may be found in his school’s journal here.

Tagged Dead Sea, Excavations

Qumran Virtual Model

A fantastic resource is newly available for those studying or teaching about the Dead Sea Scrolls.

You may remember the virtual model of the Temple Mount that UCLA created some years ago. You can tour this by special arrangement at the Davidson Center in Jerusalem or at the UCLA
Visualization Portal. Their latest project is a virtual model of Qumran, home to the Essenes whose library is now famous.

A realtime virtual tour is not yet available online, but UCLA has produced about 50 still shots (ideal for PowerPoint), and eight videos, either in HD or on YouTube.

It is resources like these which pose serious threats to any students’ attempts to catch up on sleep during class.

HT: Ferrell Jenkins

Tagged Dead Sea, Resources

“Qumran and Biblical Interpretation” Conference Schedule

I mentioned this conference before, but now I have received a detailed schedule. The conference is hosted by Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, and the cost is a very reasonable $50 for professionals (non-students), $25 for spouses of registered guests, and $25 for students, and that includes snacks and a banquet meal. A DVD of the conference is available for $39.95 (with free shipping). For more information, see the MABTS website. The line-up represents many of the most important scholars on the Dead Sea Scrolls today.

Thursday April 23, 2009

2:00-2:10 p.m. – Prayer, Welcome, and Instructions

2:10-2:15 p.m. – A Review of the Speakers

2:15-2:45 p.m. Steven L. Cox, Ph.D. Professor of Greek and New Testament, Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, Cordova, TN.

“Qumran and its Inhabitants: 170 B.C. – A.D. 70”

2:50-3:30 p.m. Peter Flint, Canada Research Chair of the Dead Sea Scrolls; Director, Dead Sea Scrolls Institute; Professor of Religious Studies, Trinity Western University

“The Three Favorite Books at Qumran. The Accuracy of our Biblical Text and Readings from the Scrolls Adopted by Various English Bible Translations”

3:30-4:00 p.m. Refreshment Break

4:00-4:40 p.m. James VanderKam, Ph.D. John A. O’Brien Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN

“Eschatology in the Dead Sea Scrolls”

4:40-5:20 p.m. R. Kirk Kilpatrick, Ph.D. Dean of the Masters and Associates Programs, Professor, Department of Old Testament and Hebrew, Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, Cordova, TN

“The Messiah and the Dead Sea Scrolls”

5:30-6:45 p.m. Banquet Dinner The Betty Howard Room

7:00-7:45 p.m. Lawrence H. Schiffman, Ph.D. Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University, New York

“Purity as Separation: Comparing Rabbinic Literature and the New Testament”

7:50-8:30 p.m. Emanuel Tov, Ph.D. Department of Bible, Hebrew University, Jerusalem

“The Biblical Dead Sea Scrolls”

8:35-8:55 p.m. A Panel Discussion with Speakers on Select Topics

Friday, April 24, 2009

8:30-9:10 a.m. Michael R. Spradlin, Ph.D. President, Chairman of the Faculty; Chairman and Professor, Department of Evangelism; Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, Practical Theology, and Church History, Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, Cordova, TN

“The Isaiah Scroll of Qumran: Current Analysis, Opinion, and Implications”

9:15-9:55 a.m. Steven M. Ortiz, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Archaeology and Biblical Backgrounds, Director of the Charles C. Tandy Archaeology Museum, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas

“Myth, Media Hype, and Multivocality: Storytelling and Qumran Archaeology”

10:00-10:40 a.m. Lawrence H. Schiffman, Ph.D. Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University, New York

“Israel, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Jewish History”

10:40-11:15 a.m. Refreshment Break

11:15-11:55 a.m. James VanderKam, Ph.D. John A. O’Brien Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN

“High Priests in the Dead Sea Scrolls”

12:00-12:40 p.m. Emanuel Tov, Department of Bible, Hebrew University, Jerusalem

“The Scribes of Qumran”

Tagged Dead Sea, Lectures