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Re: Non-Scrolls?
> Is there evidence of "non-scrolls" (e.g. codices) or "non-standard"
> scrolls (e.g. opisthographs) among the DSS?
>
> If so, how common were they (order of magnitude)?
>
> Thanks
> Nichael Cramer
Interesting questions. Add also palimpsests. Doubtless Emanuel Tov and
others have addressed this somewhere. I recall in my youth (but why
should anyone trust memory in this way?) hearing Frank Cross speak about
a pile or piles of unbound and unconnected sheets somewhere in the
remains -- presumably from the controlled excavations, but perhaps not.
The context was my interest in predecessors of the codex development (I
suspect that Jews experimented with that format before Christians
started to embrace it). Isn't 4QTestimonia (4Q 175) an isolated example
of such a sheet? -- I'm staring at a beautiful Zuckerman photo of it and
see no evidence of scroll connectivity (or of codex binding).
Another interesting (to me) oddity is 4QSam\a as described by Frank
Cross in his <t>Ancient Library of Qumran</>, p.31 of the 1958 edition =
p.40 of the 1961 revised Anchor edition:
<quote>The best-preserved manuscript of the biblical lot ... is a
manuscript of Samuel designated 4QSam\a.[note 51] The secret of its
relatively good state of preservation is a backing of papyrus applied in
antiquity, perhaps a half century or so after it was copied.[note 52]
...[note 52] This is deduced from two factors: (1) The scroll was
reinforced in places with leather even before the papyrus backing was
applied, suggesting the scroll was considerably worn; and (2) the
papyrus is inscribed (unfortunately on the side which was gummed to the
leather), and while no extensive parts can be read, the script appears
somewhat later than that of the leather roll.</quote>
I wonder if the new spectogrammetry techniques will permit the papyrus
to be read without damaging or exposing the relevant surfaces?! Sounds
like a worthwhile project.
Bob Kraft, UPenn