Items of Interest August 27, 2012 Issue

Truly ancient history comes to Texas

What did a bedouin shepherd and a cobbler who dealt in antiques have in common? That’s right—Dead Sea Scrolls. And a special exhibition on these precious objects opened on July 2 at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. It will run until January 11.

Titled “Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible: Ancient Artifacts, Timeless Treasures,” it features at least eight of the Seminary’s scroll fragments—the largest collection of these objects in the United States. Part of the exhibit will be a newly acquired scroll that’s being referred to as “paleo-Leviticus” because it was written in ancient Hebrew and, some scholars say, dates to the second century bc .

Early on in the work with the Dead Sea Scrolls, some translators felt trepidation over what they might find, but their fears were groundless. “Overwhelmingly, these scrolls indicate the reliability of the Bible we have today,” said Ryan Stokes an assistant professor of Old Testament and a Dead Sea Scrolls translator at the Seminary (“New piece of ancient history,”
Star-Telegram.com, April 14, 2012).

Sentinel Staff

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