1576 The Dead Sea Scrolls Documentary

Dead Sea Scroll scholars and archaeologists (clockwise from upper left) Yigael Yadin, William F. Albright, Roland DeVaux, and John Trever.

Twenty years ago, on the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, I produced a 14-minute documentary featuring audio I had collected for my radio program from presentations and interviews.

I also included audio from a series of public radio programs produced by University of Wisconsin professor Menahem Mansoor, from tape recordings which he bequeathed to me. These recordings included observations from William F. Albright (whom he had studied under), Yigael Yadin, and Roland DeVaux–key figures in the discovery and excavation of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Qumran community.

I am presenting this program from The Book & The Spade archives to mark the 70th anniversary of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

1574-1575 Peter Flint – The Dead Sea Scrolls at 50

Peter Flint

From our archives we present an interview from 20 years ago, when the half-century anniversary of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls was being observed. Peter Flint, a South African scholar who was a world leader in Dead Sea Scrolls scholarship, directed the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute at Trinity Western University in British Columbia.

We were sorry to hear that he passed away last November. He was 65 years old. Peter Flint was a gracious and informative guest and we were very pleased that we got to have him on TB&TS twice.

1572-1573 Sidnie White Crawford – The Dead Sea Scrolls at 70

Sidnie White Crawford

It’s been 70 years since the Dead Sea Scrolls were first discovered in a desert cave overlooking the Dead Sea near the ruins of Qumran. The value of that discovery has changed over the years as our understanding of the scrolls has changed. We discuss current perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls with Sidnie White Crawford, a Dead Sea Scrolls scholar and professor of the Hebrew Bible at the University of Nebraska.

1571 Clyde Billington – Solomon’s Donkey Dung and Dan Wall Fall

The Iron Age Gate at Dan

Two of the top archaeology news stories in the latest issue of ARTIFAX magazine concern the dating of copper mining operations at Timna through ancient donkey dung and the collapse of the wall near the Iron Age Gate at Dan following recent rainfall.

These stories and more from the latest issue of ARTIFAX are discussed with my ARTIFAX co-editor, professor Clyde Billington.

1570 Clyde Billington – Dead Sea Scroll Fragments and Hippos Theater

An evening visit to Hippos/Sussita

There are a number of unpublished Dead Sea Scroll fragments in the possession of U.S. institutions. We discuss the significance and meaning of this situation, and whether they will be published soon. This story is one of the news digest items from the latest issue of ARTIFAX magazine.

The discovery of a large theater, apparently used for cultic worship, at the decapolis city of Hippos/Sussita is another news development reported in ARTIFAX. We discuss these stories and others from the latest issue.

1569 Clyde Billington – Temple Mount Sifting Project

Sifting Temple Mount material

For the last decade the Temple Mount Sifting Project has been sifting material illegally excavated from the Temple Mount in 1999. The project is about 70 percent completed but has now gone on hiatus. It appears to be partly a funding issue but also a slowdown so that the important publishing of the finds can catch up.

Among recent finds, the discovery of a column capital from the Temple Mount, perhaps from Solomon’s portico. We discuss these latest developments as well as other reports from the news digest of the latest issue of ARTIFAX magazine.

1567-1568 Alice Mandell – The Amarna Letters

Alice Mandell

Called by one author, “a preface to Biblical History,” the Amarna tablets describe the Canaanite world just before the Israelites arrived. These diplomatic messages were sent from Canaanite kings and others to the Pharaoh Akhenaton, describing and complaining about various circumstances. These cuneiform tablets were discovered in Amarna, Egypt, in the late 19th century and are still being discussed and debated by Egyptologists and biblical scholars.

In this 2-part recorded conversation, Alice Mandell, Assistant Professor of Classical Hebrew Language and Biblical Literature in the University of Wisconsin Department of Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, describes some of the latest discoveries and latest debates about these tablets and the ancient world they describe.