Thursday, June 18, 2015

New DSS at the Los Angeles exhibition

PRESS RELEASE: Dead Sea Scrolls: The Exhibition" Unveils New Set of Scrolls.
Sold-out Crowds Continue At the California Science Center
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Since opening on March 10, 2015, the exhibition has sold more than 120,000 tickets, frequently selling out on weekends, as guests viewed the first rotation of scrolls. This second rotation includes 10 scrolls that feature an entirely new set of fragmentary manuscripts, completely replacing the first set. The new installation, which will remain through the end of the exhibition, includes:
  • Prayer for King Jonathan (Liturgical Text)
    It is perhaps the only Dead Sea Scroll, published to date, that can be dated with almost complete certainty to the first half of the first century BCE.
  • Songs of the Sage (Liturgical Text)
    The Songs of the Sage are prayers or incantations of exorcism that were recited as protection against evil spirits. In this scroll, the act of praising God served to thwart the power of demonic beings.
  • Daily Prayers (Liturgical Text)
    This fragmentary text is a collection of prayers that, at one time, may have filled as many as thirteen columns of text. A completely different collection of prayers is written on the other side of the papyrus.
  • Some Works of the Law (Non-biblical Text)
    This text appears to have been written in the form of a letter and is unique in both its style and content. Scholars suggest that the letter includes a description of a 364-day solar calendar and a list of 20 or so laws dealing with the Temple, purity, sacrifices and festivals—several unique to the letter.
  • War Scroll (Non-biblical Text)
    This scroll is part of a text that describes the final eschatological war between good and evil or "the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness," after which a new world order will reign.
Background on the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition at the California Science Center is here and links. The exhibition has also been associated with a couple of good parties.