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orion THIRD ORION SYMPOSIUM
THIRD INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls
4-8 February, 1998
THE DAMASCUS DOCUMENT: A CENTENNIAL OF DISCOVERY
This year we celebrate the centennial of the Damascus Document's
discovery in the Cairo Geniza (CD) and also the recently published DJD
edition of the Qumran Damascus manuscripts. Since its initial discovery,
CD sparked a lively debate particularly about its sectarian origins and
halacha, issues with far-reaching implications not only for the
development of Jewish law but also for the very nature of Second Temple
period Judaism and its continuity into the early medieval period.
With the publication of all the manuscripts, the time is ripe for renewed
study and assessment of this important document, its multi-faceted
content and form, its literary history, its place in the Qumran corpus,
the light it sheds on Qumran and other communities, its contribution to
the various fields of Judaic studies on which it impacts: history,
biblical interpretation, halacha, Jewish thought, Hebrew language,
paleography and codicology. The Damascus Document symposium provides a
special opportunity to bring together scholars working in different
disciplines and in different periods including the medieval Geniza
context. Papers may take an interdisciplinary approach or focus on one
aspect, developing it synchronically or diachronically, and should deal
with major issues or broad trends.