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Re: orion Re: DNA hide tests
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Fred Cryer wrote:
>the composition of the skins was subjected to extensive analysis by the
>Getty Museum in the person of Dr. William Ginell; the report arrived at was
>internal and not for publication, as its purpose was to further the IAA´s
>attempts to preserve the Scrolls adequately, rather than to contribute to
>scholarly dialogue. Nevertheless, it might be mentioned that analysis
>showed the "skins" in question to have been reduced to the status of
>parchment by leaching with lye and other substances, careful scraping,
>stretching, and the like. When Qumranologists speak of something being or
>not being "on the leather", they are using a slight misnomer, as parchment
>is a much more purified product than leather, consisting essentially only
>of collagen.
I would merely add a slight caution, though I am not an expert on
this. Though Dr. Ginell's report did use the word parchment, it might be
noted that there were, in the ancient near east, many methods of preparing
skins for writing surfaces, and that, if memory serves me, not all writers
use the same definitions in distinguishing the types of prepared leather
surfaces and parchment, the latter term sometimes restricted to a method
attributed to Pergamum. In some senses of "parchment," Qumran prepared
skins may not qualify, if memory serves.
S. Goranson goranson@duke.edu