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Dead Sea Scrolls at 60: Conference at NYU

The Ranieri Colloquium on Ancient Studies

The Dead Sea Scrolls at 60:

The Scholarly Contributions of NYU Faculty and Alumni

Co-sponsored by the New York University Center for Ancient Studies and
the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies

March 6-7, 2008

Hemmerdinger Hall, Room 102
Silver Center, 100 Washington Square East

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Matthew S. Santirocco (Dean, College of Arts and Science, New York University) – Welcome


10:00a.m. – Session One: Rewriting the Bible

Erik Larson (Florida International University) – On The Identification of Two Greek Texts of Enoch

Mark Smith (New York University) – “In-between Texts”: Biblical Texts, Inner-Biblical
Interpretation, Second Temple Literature, and Textual Criticism

Moshe Bernstein (Yeshiva University, New York University) – The Dead Sea Scrolls and Jewish
Biblical Interpretation in Antiquity


12:00 Noon – Lunch


1:30p.m. – Session Two: The Dead Sea Sect

Gary Rendsburg (Rutgers University) – Language at Qumran

Shani (Berrin) Tzoref (Hebrew University, University of Sydney) – The Pesharim and the Pentateuch:
Explicit Citations, Overt Typologies, and Implicit Interpretation

Alexei Sivertsev (DePaul University) – Sectarians and Householders


4:00p.m. – Keynote Address

Lawrence H. Schiffman (New York University) – The Dead Sea Scrolls and the History of Judaism
and Christianity

6:00p.m. – Reception

Friday, March 7, 2008


9:00a.m. – Session Three: The Scrolls and Second Temple Judaism

Alex Jassen (University of Minesota) – The Contribution of the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Study of
Prophecy in Ancient Judaism

Yaakov Elman (Yeshiva University) – Zoroastrianism and the Dead Sea Scrolls

Joseph Angel (Yeshiva University) – The Historical and Exegetical Roots of Eschatological
Priesthood at Qumran

11:00a.m. – Session Four: Judean Desert Texts

Judah Lefkovits (Independent Scholar) – The Copper Scroll (3Q15): A Reconsideration

Baruch Levine (New York University) – Judean Desert Documents of the Bar Kokhba Period:
Epistolary and Legal

Andrew Gross (University of Pittsburgh) – The Judean Desert Formulary: A Case Study in the
Continuity and Innovation of Ancient Near Eastern Traditions

The school’s announcement is here.

HT: Joe Lauer, who says that the event is free and open to the public.  You can confirm attendance
with Shayne Leslie Figueroa at shayne dot figueroa at nyu dot edu.

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6 thoughts on “Dead Sea Scrolls at 60: Conference at NYU

  1. OK, This has nothing to do with your post, but i just received a forwarded email from the in-laws mentioning chariots wheels and other artifacts found in the Red Sea…supposedly proof of the Egyptians crossing. Is this true or another one of those archaeological “finds”?? I’d be happy to forward the email to you…if you aren’t familiar with it. thanks for your blogs, i enjoy keeping up with your family! i miss you guys!
    -Rachel (Francis – SP 01)

  2. Rachel – this “discovery” is decades old but keeps recirculating. It is completely bogus, and was “discovered” by the notorious huckster, Ron Wyatt. A friend is now writing a book which will debunk fraudulent reports like this one.

  3. Todd,
    After being asked about you by a brother, I thought I would see who you are. I was saddened and shocked to find the name-calling you use about my friend Ron Wyatt on your blog. You see, in spite of all the betrayal, attack and name-calling Ron received from his presentation of the evidence he had found, he always dismissed it and often stated, “they will be nice folks in Heaven.” I am a 54 year old professional in engineering, was raised Southern Baptist, knew Ron for 11 years and have visited and studied the evidence for the last 20 years. I have not found one instance of a false claim about the visible physical evidence presented. In fact, I have been privileged to find corroborating evidence to help substantiate some of the sites. Ron never cared about claiming discovery, he only presented evidence and the Bible narrative. To address only the discovery asked about in this blog, the Red Sea off of Nuweiba beach has now been investigated by, among others, Dr. Lennart Moller of the Karolinska Institute with picture-taking submersible sub showing a debris field across where the columns found on both sides marked the crossing site. I wonder if you would call Ron these names in front of his two sons who were imprisoned in Saudi Arabia with their dad for 78 days after finding evidence at Jebel el Lawz powerful enough to cause the Saudi government to fence off the entire area as an archaeological site. It’s evident you have not researched this enough to make that mistake. To lump Ron and Bob Cornuke together is even worse. Cornuke came along years later, knowing of the site and claimed discovery by going under the fence. If you have the courage to allow this comment and your readers to make up their own minds, I have a website that presents visible physical evidence and Biblical narrative only. It is http://www.ThroneofGod.com Proverbs 18:13-15 says “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear? The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.”

  4. Val – certainly people will decide for themselves, and there’s nothing I could or would do to try to stop that. Wyatt’s theories have all been refuted, except for ones where he had no evidence but merely had to ask others to trust his words. He was a charlatan and if he was alive, I would call him to repent for the sins of deception and self-aggrandizement. Since you seem to be perpetuating his falsehoods, I would urge the same for you. It only damages the world’s perception of the Bible when fraudulent and unsupportable claims are made in the interest of buttressing its accuracy. I believe that the Bible is historically accurate, I believe that many, many discoveries have been made which confirm its historicity, and I believe that Wyatt and Cornuke were/are selling snake oil to gullible (and well-heeled) American Christians who tend to trust anybody who calls himself a Christian and can tell a good story that confirms what they believe.

    Those looking for more on Wyatt can read here:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Wyatt
    http://www.tentmaker.org/WAR/
    http://ldolphin.org/wyatt.html

  5. Todd,
    Your sources belie your research. They are the same ones quoted by all who do not study but accuse only.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/ – can be edited by anyone
    http://www.tentmaker.org – is a universalist (salvation to all)
    http://ldolphin.org/ – though a brother, has never visited a site.
    I would never quote or want to be associated with two of those three.
    Obviously you did not have time to research what I offered but found more names for Ron, me and my involvement.
    The traditional leaders gnashed at Stephen with their teeth when they were faced with the truth. Jesus asked forgivness for the same stating, “they know not what they do.” The Bible is true history and the inerrant Word of the Living God bringing salvation to those who believe in Jesus Christ as their savior.
    I’m sorry you feel the need to persecute, but thanks for allowing the posting and allowing others the opportunity to see and research for themselves.
    “Declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all people.” (Psalms 96:3)
    “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.”(Psalms 25:14)
    http://www.ThroneofGod.com

  6. I have long studied into what motivates some people to do what they do, I’ll comment on one thing that’s been of recent interest of late, I got a bulk email from one of the Prophecy Professionals that I’ve given some of my attention to these last several years and it is interesting how when they think their message is “plateauing” they have to “set dates” for “the end of the age” and in this case he was Eddie Chumney, of Hebraic Intl Ministries, and was predicting the end of the U.S. Dollar, economy, the rise of the One World Government, ad infinitum, ad nauseam. As to Mr Wyatt’s “work” and compared to that of Bob Cornuke, I’ll say that I don’t care about he authenticity debate about what Wyatt did, but I’ve seen the man on the record, and he was a humble softspoken man; not so BaseBob Cornuke (his AOL username) he is selfimportant in my humble opinion, and that alone makes his assertions all the more abhorent, and I agree with Todd, as far as that sort of “Indiana Jones” wannabe archaeology is what makes people even more dubious about the Word. And that to me is the more serious thing.

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