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orion Jericho Synagogue
I think the following chronology is reasonably accurate:
41 - B.C.E. - Herod appointed tetrarch of Judea.
40 - 37 B.C.E. - Reign of Antigonus Hight Priest & King.
39 - B.C.E. - Herod, with ten bands of soldiers, 5 Roman and 5 Jews,
with
mercenaries, set upon Jericho and find it deserted.
They plunder
the city. Herod leaves a garrison at Jericho and
the Romans
move to winter quarters in Judea, Galilee and
Samaria.
38 B.C.E. - Herod's brother Joseph is beheaded by Antigonus near
Jericho.
37 B.C.E. - Antigonus beheaded by M. Anthony at Herod's request.
36 B.C.E. - Jonathan drowned by Herod at Jericho.
31 B.C.E. - Actium/Anthony & Cleopatra defeated and Herod on the
wrong
side because he backed A & C.
31 B.C.E. - Earthquake -
30 B.C.E. - Hyrannus II executed by Herod
29 B.C.E. - Mariamme executed by Herod
28 B.C.E. - Alexandra II executed by Herod
Given these events and the discovery of a pre-31 B.C.E. synagogue at Jericho,
it appears that the Jericho synagogue was destroyed sometime between 39 B.C.E.
and 31 B.C.E. and not rebuilt. Instead, Herod built a palace on the site. On
the other hand, Qumran was rebuilt (?)
So, is it reasonable to conclude that whoever was using the synagogue at
Jericho was likely allied with Antigonus and their synagogue was destroyed by
Herod because of it. On the other hand, whoever was using the synagogue at
Qumran (if that is what it was, in part) was not allied with Antigonus and
were, therefore, allowed to rebuild their structure.
I am working my way around to the question of a date of deposit at Qumran
which was being discussed in about October 1997 and earlier. The idea was
tryiing to find a scenario for when at least some of the scrolls came to
Qumran that fit with methods of dating etc. The idea being that some of them
might have been moved about 39 B.C.E. when those using the synagogue at
Jericho were about to be attacked by Herod and the Romans. Qumran being a
"safe" place?
BTW, I was at the grocery store today and the tabloid known as the Sun had the
headline: "New Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls - Startling revelations;"
"Who really wrote Christ's messages to world?" "How ancient documents'
prophecies affect us all" "Incredible challenges to origins of Christianity"
Among other things, the article discusses Hirschfeld's excavations, postulates
that the scrolls were first taken to Rome by their Christian guardians and
then brought back to Qumran after Herod burned the City (he was supposedly
trying to burn the scrolls when he burned Rome), and mentions a Dr. Moire who
identifies 4Q541 as predicting the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross
while 4Q521 tells of his resurrection and ascent into heaven. All this for
$1.39.
Mark Dunn