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The Dead Sea Scrolls 1947-1969
'The Dead Sea Scrolls is an unsurpassingly lucid introduction to a complex subject. Wilson unravels the exciting tale of how the scrolls first came into the possession of students in the war-torn Palestine of the late forties, the excavation of the Dead Sea sect's monastery at Qumran, the subsequent debates the scrolls provoked among theologians and scholars, and the light these unprecedneted finds have thrown upon biblical studies and the life of Christ. As always Wilson has forced no easy conclusions upon us, but left us pondering connections and lines of enquiry we have previously not considered.'--Philip French Financial Times [from the back cover]
312 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
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About the author
Edmund Wilson
251books149followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the ŷ database. See also physicist Edmund Wilson.
Edmund Wilson Jr. was a towering figure in 20th-century American literary criticism, known for his expansive intellect, stylistic clarity, and commitment to serious literary and political engagement. Over a prolific career, Wilson wrote for Vanity Fair, The New Republic, The New Yorker, and The New York Review of Books, shaping the critical conversation on literature, politics, and culture. His major critical works—such as Axel's Castle and Patriotic Gore—combined literary analysis with historical insight, and he ventured boldly into subjects typically reserved for academic specialists, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, Native American cultures, and the American Civil War.
Wilson was also the author of fiction, memoirs, and plays, though his influence rested most strongly on his literary essays and political writing. He was instrumental in promoting the reputations of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Vladimir Nabokov, and many others. Despite his friendships with several of these authors, his criticism could be unflinching, even scathing—as seen in his public dismissal of H. P. Lovecraft and J. R. R. Tolkien. His combative literary style often drew attention, and his exacting standards for writing, along with his distaste for popular or commercial literature, placed him in a tradition of high-minded literary seriousness.
Beyond the realm of letters, Wilson was politically active, aligning himself at times with socialist ideals and vocally opposing Cold War policies and the Vietnam War. His principled refusal to pay income tax in protest of U.S. militarization led to a legal battle and a widely read protest book.
Wilson was married four times and had several significant personal and intellectual relationships, including with Fitzgerald and Nabokov. He also advocated for the preservation and celebration of American literary heritage, a vision realized in the creation of the Library of America after his death. For his contributions to American letters, Wilson received multiple honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His legacy endures through his extensive body of work, which remains a touchstone for literary scholars and general readers alike.
Edmund Wilson Jr. was a towering figure in 20th-century American literary criticism, known for his expansive intellect, stylistic clarity, and commitment to serious literary and political engagement. Over a prolific career, Wilson wrote for Vanity Fair, The New Republic, The New Yorker, and The New York Review of Books, shaping the critical conversation on literature, politics, and culture. His major critical works—such as Axel's Castle and Patriotic Gore—combined literary analysis with historical insight, and he ventured boldly into subjects typically reserved for academic specialists, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, Native American cultures, and the American Civil War.
Wilson was also the author of fiction, memoirs, and plays, though his influence rested most strongly on his literary essays and political writing. He was instrumental in promoting the reputations of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Vladimir Nabokov, and many others. Despite his friendships with several of these authors, his criticism could be unflinching, even scathing—as seen in his public dismissal of H. P. Lovecraft and J. R. R. Tolkien. His combative literary style often drew attention, and his exacting standards for writing, along with his distaste for popular or commercial literature, placed him in a tradition of high-minded literary seriousness.
Beyond the realm of letters, Wilson was politically active, aligning himself at times with socialist ideals and vocally opposing Cold War policies and the Vietnam War. His principled refusal to pay income tax in protest of U.S. militarization led to a legal battle and a widely read protest book.
Wilson was married four times and had several significant personal and intellectual relationships, including with Fitzgerald and Nabokov. He also advocated for the preservation and celebration of American literary heritage, a vision realized in the creation of the Library of America after his death. For his contributions to American letters, Wilson received multiple honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His legacy endures through his extensive body of work, which remains a touchstone for literary scholars and general readers alike.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 24, 2023
THE SCROLLS FROM THE DEAD SEA gives an account of the discovery of ancient texts in caves by the Dead Sea by a Bedouin boy called Muhammed the Wolf in 1947. The story is fascinating in not only what those interested had to go through to buy them from the Arabs, but also trying to conduct their own searches in a war zone. Bear in mind that the author was writing in 1955, so when he states that the work of translating the scrolls might take 50 years to accomplish he really didn't know what information would be forthcoming. They were amazed to find that the entire book of Isaiah from the Bible was there.
To give you an idea of what they had to go through to read some of these scrolls I am quoting from the book.
"The fragments selected for study are set out on long tables in a large white-walled room. They are mostly of leather but a few are papyrus. In color, they range from the darkest brown to an almost paper-like paleness, so that they give the impression of autumn leaves that have lain in the forest all winter. The ones that are being studied have been flattened under plates of glass; but before they can be smoothed out, they have to be rendered less brittle by being put into a "humidifier," a bell-glass containing moist sponges. When they are taken out of this, they are cleaned with a camel's hair brush, dipped in alcohol or castor-oil. Sometimes the ink comes off along with the marly clay of the caves. Sometimes they flake at the touch of the brush and have to be backed with tape. Sometimes they have turned quite black, in which case they are photographed with infrared rays and examined through a magnifying glass. The first problem is to bring together - through a study of the various hands of the scribes and substances on which they have written - the pieces that belong together. The scholars work on this in a small inner room, equipped with concordances, dictionaries and all the relevant texts. The concordance may place a fragment as coming from a Biblical book or a known non-canonical work, and others will be found to fit it."
And I might add that there were tens of thousands of fragments found, some the size of the palm of your hand and some with a single letter on them.
It seems that some universities were paying, in 1955, hundreds of thousands of dollars for ancient manuscripts, yet once the contents were published they lost some of their value. And once they were published professors would argue over whose interpretation was correct.
Although this was interesting I am only giving it 3 stars as it seems too much like work to read unless you are a serious student of such material.
To give you an idea of what they had to go through to read some of these scrolls I am quoting from the book.
"The fragments selected for study are set out on long tables in a large white-walled room. They are mostly of leather but a few are papyrus. In color, they range from the darkest brown to an almost paper-like paleness, so that they give the impression of autumn leaves that have lain in the forest all winter. The ones that are being studied have been flattened under plates of glass; but before they can be smoothed out, they have to be rendered less brittle by being put into a "humidifier," a bell-glass containing moist sponges. When they are taken out of this, they are cleaned with a camel's hair brush, dipped in alcohol or castor-oil. Sometimes the ink comes off along with the marly clay of the caves. Sometimes they flake at the touch of the brush and have to be backed with tape. Sometimes they have turned quite black, in which case they are photographed with infrared rays and examined through a magnifying glass. The first problem is to bring together - through a study of the various hands of the scribes and substances on which they have written - the pieces that belong together. The scholars work on this in a small inner room, equipped with concordances, dictionaries and all the relevant texts. The concordance may place a fragment as coming from a Biblical book or a known non-canonical work, and others will be found to fit it."
And I might add that there were tens of thousands of fragments found, some the size of the palm of your hand and some with a single letter on them.
It seems that some universities were paying, in 1955, hundreds of thousands of dollars for ancient manuscripts, yet once the contents were published they lost some of their value. And once they were published professors would argue over whose interpretation was correct.
Although this was interesting I am only giving it 3 stars as it seems too much like work to read unless you are a serious student of such material.
November 28, 2023
Sort of an odd duck, since I normally think of Wilson ("Bunny") as a literary guy rather than someone following archaelogy in the Holy Land. But he does a good job here, and it's never dry (which was my chief concern). My edition is an expansion of the original(which in only about 130 pages or so). The first part is the best, with Wilson reporting on the discovery of the scrolls, while at the same time weaving in little reminders that things are, well, tense in the Middle East (what a surprise). All of the first part reads more like a "book," with events following a certain arc. Wilson's great when it comes to bringing some of the scholars and clergy men to life, but where he really surprises you is in his discussions on various biblical texts, their differences, and their dating. Topping all of this is his discussion of the Essenes -- and Jesus. Nothing sensational, but fascinating, and always honest. I'm sure the scholarship has moved far beyond Wilson's reporting, but what works here is a great writer working a great story. The second part is more of the same, but it comes across in a more fragmentary way, in short chapters that lack the same momentum of the first part. It almost reads like a large Appendix, but an interesing one.
January 31, 2020
A rather good history of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls as well as the problems which followed this discovery. Some of his reporting was difficult to follow...but overall a good account.
June 4, 2010
This is an overview of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 and of the debates about them and what they represent until the end of the sixties. Wilson is an excellent writer, did his homework, but is no expert in this field. Instead, what one gets is an educated layperson's appropriation of the subject, an appropriation which, while not out of the ballpark, is highly controversial and contested.
March 2, 2013
A journalistic report about the scrolls very close to their initial discovery by, Edmund Wilson's take, an unnamed Arab. This sums it up, pretty much, at the time. Muhammed Edh-Dhib was the Bedouin's name. In this book I read a great deal about ideas that I'd never ever given a thought to and I must admit it wasn't disheartening, but not riveting. Interesting enough, most of the scholarship surrounding the Dead Sea Scrolls finally got going in the 1990's. But overall this book was able to clarify the political, religious, and social temperature at the moment of the discovery and the thorns in the baskets of potential scholarship.
January 3, 2016
two thirds of the book passes before any verse-length quotation from the scrolls is made. this is the story of the discovery, dissemination, and production of the scrolls more so than any exegesis of their content. From Mohammed the Wolf tossing stones into caves to a Metropolitan of the Syrian Jacobite Church frustrated in trying to gain financially from them, we get the story of how they came out. The Essenes get their own chapter as Wilson does a good job in a short work to place these texts and their implications in the inter-testament period and helping complete the story of a subjugated Judea with Messianic visions.
August 14, 2021
Fascinating summary of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the subsequent debates and theological discussions that occurred after their discovery. The author also give you an understanding of Essene Order and the part they potentially played in the creation of the texts. The author provides a very good explanation of the impact the scrolls have had as a result of interpreting texts and comparing them to the texts we have today.
May 5, 2021
I learned some history on the origins of the Jewish and Christian texts. To discover the oldest known written versions of the old testament at such a late date (1947) stories really was a remarkable story. And the fact that it occured right at the time of the founding of Israel is an interesting coincidence.
March 7, 2020
Old, but good. Interesting history of the Qumrān Caves, the Essenes, and the implications of the Dead Sea Scrolls for our understanding of the origins of Christianity and the Bible. Obviously as it is now over 60 years old it has its limitations. But a great strength is the clarity it brings to our understanding of how sensational this discovery was in the 1950s. We also get the context of the origins of modern Israeli aggression in the ME, and their pitiless treatment of the Palestinians. What we should take from it is that despite our best efforts our understanding of history is very provisional. Only 126 pages - I understand it has since been revised and extended - it is well worth the time spent in reading.
July 23, 2021
Un libro muy pro judío y con clara tendencia a demeritar al Cristianismo. En todo el libro no deje de pensar acerca de si el autor era de origen judío (practicante o no). Teniendo en cuenta la clara tendencia del autor anti cristiana y pro judaica, habrá que investigar si los hechos que él afirma en el libro son verdad, mentira o mentira/verdad a medias.
July 9, 2024
Libro bien documentado. Algunas cosas que salen de dogma cristiano. Pero en general es buen libro. Se aprende mucho sobre las bases religiosas. No sólo del cristianismo.
Libro recomendado para aquellas personas que quiere profundizar en datos históricos y orígenes sobre pasajes de la biblia. Algunos textos que quedaron apócrifos en el concilio vaticano y mucha historia de medio oriente.
Libro recomendado para aquellas personas que quiere profundizar en datos históricos y orígenes sobre pasajes de la biblia. Algunos textos que quedaron apócrifos en el concilio vaticano y mucha historia de medio oriente.
November 23, 2017
Interesting history of how, when, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found and the reaction of the "experts" to them. From what all happened it is amazing that they did not get lost or stolen or destroyed after they were found!
September 9, 2015
Well, this was interesting. It was about the archaeological work around the Dead Sea scrolls during the Israeli war for independence. There were a number of really surreal moments describing press releases relating to the Scrolls taking place in buildings being fired at - with artillery fire pounding in the background. I don't know how dated the information is, there will have been more information found since the publication of this book without question, but it was still a fascinating and informative read. I understand from other reviews of this book that this account is somewhat controversial - I do not know how, though, so I would advise anyone to not take this at total face-value, but this is still very worth reading - I'll recommend it to anyone interested in bible scholarship.
Not bad for a book I bought for 20p I suppose.
Not bad for a book I bought for 20p I suppose.
July 24, 2024
Grandiosamente informativo en su primera mitad, sólo para desviarse en la segunda para hablar de los viajes que ha tenido el autor por medio oriente, sus opiniones sobre la fé (ajeno al tema de la obra) y concluye con una sección entera sobre un intrascendente debate por correo que tuvo con alguien por internet (que no aporta valor y sirven para vanagloria del autor, ante todos, sobre lo conocedor que es de los temas que toca).
Tamben es evidente que el autor es periodista, y no escritor, por lo inmensos que son sus párrafos, sin saber separar ideas
Sólo tiene valor la primera parte.
Tamben es evidente que el autor es periodista, y no escritor, por lo inmensos que son sus párrafos, sin saber separar ideas
Sólo tiene valor la primera parte.
August 17, 2010
Do not remember much about this one. I have an impression that it learned towards a sensationalist and conspiratorial narrative.
November 25, 2014
Excelente trabajo periodistico acerca de un buen tema religioso.
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November 5, 2011Call Number: 220.93 WIL
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