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Re: orion Orion DNA tests
Dear Jim West,
As you might recall, DNA testing has been discussed on this list
previously. As Virgil Brown correctly wrote, Scott Woodward (in Utah),
Patricia Smith (in Israel), and others have started such tests. Among
preliminary reports, one is in the volume _Current Research and
Technological Developments on the Dead Sea Scrolls_ ed. Donald Parry and S.
Ricks (STJD 20, Brill, 1996). Woodward also has read several papers,
including at BYU 1996 and SBL 1996. Some DNA information will appear, I
think, in volume 1 of _The Dead Sea Scrolls Jubilee Collection_ ed Peter
Flint and James VanderKam (Brill), expected in print later this year.
The DNA testing has no direct relation to the Essene identification
question. The invitation by you and others for silence concerning Essenes
is, IMO, not useful for the discussion. It is useful to hear different
views; for example, your proposal of "revivalism" can be considered,
assuming you don't mean that term as applied to 19th-century American
tent-meetings. If you think N. Golb has a credible position on importation
of all the scrolls, you can respond to the review by L. Grabbe, if you wish.
Albert Baumgarten has shown that one can discuss on orion the
Essene identity from a viewpoint which is simultaneously questioning,
learned, and civil. I hope threads like the one he began recently can
flourish on orion. If not, more such discussions will simply move offlist.
At the moment, each route has its advantages.
Sincerely,
Stephen Goranson goranson@duke.edu