Precisely 75 years ago, on November 29th, 1947, Prof. Eleazar Sukenik, the founder of our institute, purchased three scrolls that were discovered by Bedouins in Qumran, in the northern Judean Desert. Sukenik immediately realized the importance of the discovery and the dating of the scrolls to the days of the Second Temple. Additional scrolls were later purchased by his son, Prof. Yigael Yadin, and the site in Qumran was excavated by Father Roland de Vaux from the French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research.
The scrolls are considered among the most important archaeological discoveries ever made in Israel and shed much light on issues of society, religion, language and culture in the days of the Second Temple, as well as on the formulation of the biblical text and other issues. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the discovery of the scrolls, the Institutes of Archaeology and Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University organized a conference in which the past, present and future of the study of the scrolls will be discussed (lectures will be held in Hebrew). Welcome to join!
