Richard Ferman wrote:
> Stephen
> Excuse this interruption but I honestly have several questions
> which
> I have wondered about for a long time, (almost 40 years), so here they
> are:
> 1). Have all of the Scrolls been carbon dated? If not, when?
> 2). Until all have been carbon dated, can we speculate anything?
> 3). There were multiple caves. Will we have to make a statement
> regarding each cave? or will one blanket statement suffice?
> (Could one cave have belonged to the Essenes, one to the
> Zealots
> one to the Onias followers and one to "others" etc).
> 4). Why were some caves, apparently, with shelves and others a
> mess?
> 5). Can we presume the local tribes used the scrolls for
> firewood,
> or otherwise destroyed other scrolls over the centuries, as
> is
> mentioned in regards to the Nag Hammadi texts?
> I hope I have not belabored the point. So many questions. So much
> to
> read and so few answers for my questions.
> Thank you for your patience.
> Dick Ferman
These are also questions that plague me too, Dick. The Copper
Scroll is
a good example. Unparalleled by the remainder of the texts in medium,
language
and style, as well as separately placed and alluding to the *temple
treasury* rather
than Qumran. 4Q521, unlike the other sectarian texts, speaks of *one*
messiah
rather than two. Has the idea that these caches were deposited in the
caves at
different times by different groups (perhaps the Sadducees for MMT) been
dismissed for good textual and archaeological reasons, or by assumption?
Jack Kilmon
jpman@accesscomm.net