After 5: Archaic Finds

The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, on display through May 13, sheds light on the daily life of the Qumran community where the scrolls were first discovered by archeologists 50 years ago.

The exhibit features pieces of 10 different scrolls; six of them are originals that have never before been displayed in the United States. Four scrolls are replicas, including the mysterious Copper Scroll, which contains intriguing information about possible hidden treasures.

This collection also features more than 100 artifacts – including pieces of pottery, scroll jars, a pair of men’s sandals and a hair comb – from the Qumran ruins, located near the caves where the scrolls were found between 1947 and 1956.

Exhibit findings

The exhibit, developed in conjunction with the Israeli Antiquities Authority, seeks to answer frequently asked questions about the scrolls and their history.

The scrolls are fragments of more than 900 Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek manuscripts that include all or part of every book of the Hebrew Bible, the modern-day Old Testament, except Esther and Nehemiah. They were written on papyrus or parchment, according to exhibit material.

The scrolls were found in 11 caves located in the Qumran region along the northwest edge of the Dead Sea. A Bedouin shepherd boy discovered the first cave in 1947, searching for a lost goat.

Researchers and scholars believe that a little-known religious sect, the Essenes, were the authors of the scrolls.

Dating back more than 2,000 years, the scrolls provide copies of biblical text that is more than 1,000 years older than any others found so far, from mid-second century B.C. to about 50 A.D.

The mysterious Copper Scroll has been fascinating people for decades; written on thin pieces of copper, it perhaps contains information about hidden treasures.

Local experts

Although the scrolls have been hand-copied thousands of times, the text seen in our current Hebrew Bible or Old Testament is 99 percent the same as what is written in many of the scriptures recorded in the scrolls, according to the exhibit.

W.E. Nunnally, professor of intertestamental studies at Evangel University, agreed with that claim, pointing to the opinion of William F. Albright, considered the father of modern archeology.

“When the scrolls were first discovered, a famous telegram was sent from W.F. Albright: ‘Congratulations on the most significant manuscript discovery ever known,’” says Nunnally, who taught a Dead Sea Scrolls course last semester and will teach it again during the 2007–2008 school year. “The scrolls could be considered a sort of time capsule – a written record that was frozen in time.”

Leslie Baynes, professor of religious studies at Missouri State University, visited a similar exhibit in Grand Rapids, Mich., and has taught courses on the scrolls.

“Anyone who has an interest in history or even the Middle East will find this show fascinating and well worth their time,” she says.

Exhibit Details

What: The Dead Sea Scrolls

Where: Union Station, 30 W. Pershing Road in Kansas City, near Crown Center

When: through May 13

Hours: 9:30 a.m.–9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 9:30 a.m.–6 p.m. Friday through Monday

Cost: $19.95; school groups are $10.95; and adult groups of 15 or more receive a discount. Advanced reservations are required for groups and strongly recommended for single tickets.

More information: Call (816) 460-2020, or visit www.unionstation.org

Attendance

The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit drew 30,000 visitors during its first three weeks on display, according to Sarah Biles, Union Station’s director of communications. Biles says the attendance is ahead of budgeted projections and exceeds attendance figures to a Titanic exhibit a few years ago. The goal for Dead Sea Scrolls is 150,000 visitors.