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Re: Copper Scroll (was Re: orion-list Essenes, Zias article, etc.
I very much enjoyed Mr. Leonard's email about Hasmonean place names.
It fits in very nicely with my idea that as the Maccabeean "matrix" of
revolutionary factions evolved, there was still a strong tie between the
Saducceean/priestly families of the Temple, and with the DSS/Essene
communities in the wilderness who were, at the time of the restoration
of the Temple, the chief patrons of these re-established Sadducee
families
(prior to the Maccabeean conflict, these top families might have been
called "Sons of Saddoc").
At the time of the Hasmonean conflict with the Pharisees, it is easy for
me to picture an ongoing connection between the highest priestly families
of the Temple, and the ascetic communities in the Wilderness that would
write and or collect the DSS texts .... as well as the Copper Scroll.
It would be many years and tragic events later, that these high priestly
families (the Sadducees) would be completely overhauled (or massacred)
by Herod to make them into the image we see in the New Testament.
Mr. Leonard may not share a high opinion with these ideas that I "expand"
from his original email, but in anycase I was quite happy to receive his
academic contribution on the place names of the Copper Scroll.
George Brooks
Tampa, FL
On Tue, 28 Dec 1999 08:57:36 EST RLWinnetka@aol.com writes:
> On 12/11/99, Russell Gmirkin wrote:
>
> << Subj: Re: Copper Scroll (was Re: orion-list Essenes, Zias
> article, etc.
>
> ...However, all sides in the current discussion of the Copper
> Scroll on
> this list, like most secondary literature, have assumed that the
> list of
> treasures dates to around
> the time of the Jewish Revolt....
> In reading the Copper Scroll I am struck by the complete
> absence of any
> Herodian Era placenames. Instead, we see sites prominent in the
> Hasmonean
> Era such as the district of Kohalith where Jannaeus conquered sixty
>
> villages,
> the fortress Dok (Dagon near Jericho), and the "domicile of the
> queen"
> (probably the palace of Queen Salome in the vicinity of Jericho).
>
> Significantly, all the locations mentioned in the Copper Scroll
> fall neatly
> within the boundaries of Judea during the time of Alexander
> Jannaeus and
> shortly thereafter. To my mind this suggests a hiding of treasures
> in the
> wake of the exile from Jerusalem of the (arguably Sadducean) allies
> of
> Jannaeus during the time of Salome and Hyrkanus.
> We also have reference to a "garden of Zadok" near Jerusalem,
> suggesting
> a special reverence of Zadok by the group responsible for hiding
> the Copper
> Scroll treasures. May this not also point to the Sadducees?
> These clues indicate a date of c. 76 BCE rather than c. 68-70
> CE and (to
> my mind) suggest the hiders were allied with Jannaeus (Alexander)
> and the
> Sadducees rather than with the Essenes. The Hymn to King Jonathan
> points in
> the same direction, as well as the archaeology of the Qumran site
> (as
> pointed
> out by Doudna).
> Certainly there is still much to be learned from the Copper
> Scroll. >>
>
> While no Herodian Era placenames (Masada, Caesarea, etc.) are
> mentioned in
> the Copper Scroll, references to the Portico or Stoa (Column XI,
> Line 2) and
> the Colonnades (Column XI, Line 8) may refer to Herod's
> reconstruction of the
> Temple. Neither of these translations is universally accepted,
> however.
>
> If there is thought to be any correlation between the hoarding
> described in
> the Copper Scroll and recovered coin hoards from Israel in general,
> the First
> Revolt is still the most likely. There are a number of shekel
> hoards
> associated with the First Revolt, but none from c. 76 B.C.E. and
> relatively
> few from the Second Revolt. An Inventory of Greek Coin Hoards,
> 1973, lists
> the following hoards for Hellenistic Phoenicia - Palestine for this
> period:
> El-Jib (Gibeon), Judaea, c. 75 B.C.E., 23 copper coins; Golan
> (Gaulanitis/Trachonitis), c. 100-75 B.C.E., 40 copper coins;
> Samaria-Sebaste,
> Samaria, after 74 B.C.E., 22 copper coins, 1 shekel of Tyre. A
> large hoard
> of shekels (200+) was recovered at Jericho, but the latest coin was
> dated
> 103/2 B.C.E. I haven't checked for hoards published after 1973, but
> would be
> surprised if they change this picture very much.
>
> Robert D. Leonard Jr.
> Winnetka, IL
> For private reply, e-mail to RLWinnetka@aol.com
For private reply, e-mail to George Brooks <george.x.brooks@juno.com>
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