死海文书全文（英文）
Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit
Scrolls from the Dead Sea Exhibition
From the discovery of the earliest known recorded biblical scrolls and related
artifacts in the caves above the Dead Sea, the Dead Sea Scrolls have held an aura of
mystery and swirled with controversies. Project Judaica Foundation, in partnership
with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), the Israel government agency in charge
of all the archeological digs and artifacts throughout Israel, brought the Dead Sea
Scrolls to the public's view with five world-class exhibitions held around the globe
including the Vatican.
The Director of the IAA, the indefatigable General Amir Drori (Ret.) and the
Assistant Director, Jacob Fisch, approached this Foundation to determine whether it
would be possible to create and display an exhibition of selected fragments of the
Dead Sea Scrolls at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Having just
completed another amazing exhibition at the Library, "From the Ends of the Earth,"
the stage was set for this astounding show.
The Librarian of Congress, Dr. James Billington, was immediately interested in the
exhibition of this scope and agreed to exhibit the Dead Sea Scroll fragments. Twelve
of the most interesting scroll fragments became the core of the exhibition and were
surrounded with related artifacts including jars in which the scrolls were found
after being preserved by the low humidity of the region. Tefillim boxes and straps,
sandals believed to belong to the scribes, coins from the period, various pottery of
the period from the area Written on leather over 2,000 years ago in Hebrew, Greek
and Aramaic, these scrolls are the earliest known biblical manuscripts. They include
portions of all of the five Books of Moses as well as the writings by the Essenes
sect.
The IAA's rich materials were complimented by special pieces from the Library of
Congress' vast holding from the Hebraic, Map, and other collections. The Library's
world-class in-house staff of conservators, curators and scholars became deeply
engaged in applying their skills to choose the items from their divisions. The
Library's additions included one of the few extant Gutenberg bibles and some of the
earliest known maps which oriented the public to the sites and the region. The maps
also gave insight into the views of the early pioneering cartographers of the
Fifteenth Century and how they perceived the lands and events of the Biblical era.
Early incunabula (the earliest known printed books) and their later mechanically
printed books along with the various commentaries through the centuries all keyed to
the passages from the scroll fragments on display. These included early writings of
Pliny, Philo and Josephus among others allowing comparisons of texts as well as
historical contexts.
Each venue faced the very difficult issue of lighting the exhibit without
endangering the highly sensitive scroll fragments which could be damaged irrevocably
by exposure to bright light. The skilled staff at the Library of Congress created a
low intensity lighting system which was activated only when a visitor stood before
the scroll fragment case automatically switching off as the visitor moved away.
The design staff, augmented by a talented consultant, recreated the feelings of the
period with wall coverings emulating the stone of the caves above the Dead Sea and
the pink stones of Jerusalem making the setting truly unforgettable. Visitors were
dazzled by being able to actually see and read the 2,000 year old texts which so
many knew from present-day study of their own bibles by all faiths. Large color
photographs within the exhibition made visitors feel as if they were actually
entering the very area of the caves at Qumran.
To help visitors who wanted to learn the complexities of the story of the scrolls
meanings, an audio guide was presented for use thus making the entire exhibition
totally visitor friendly regardless of level of knowledge.
This exhibition had the largest attendance of any exhibition in over the 215 year
history of the Library of Congress. The crowds had to be controlled by time-stamped
tickets which still resulted in long lines sometime two to three long blocks long.
This opening coincided with the opening of the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum in April, 1993. As a consequence, many heads of state including the President
and Foreign Minister of Israel along with twenty other heads of state toured the
exhibition along with the staffs and members of both the House of Representatives
and Senate, Supreme Court and Executive Branch lead by the White House.
Since this exhibit elicited such support from donors and great public interest,
arrangements were then made to travel the fragments to the New York Public Library
where equal interest resulted. The San Francisco de Young Fine Arts Museum was the
third venue where extensive collateral public programming was developed for school
children, bible study groups and the general public. Time tickets were implemented
as well to manage the huge response from the public.
In the meanwhile, Jacob Fisch, of the IAA, quietly began discussions with Father
Leonard Boyle, the Director of the Vatican Library to determine interest in
displaying the fragments at the Sistine Gallery (Salone Sistine) at the Vatican. On
the June 30, 1994, with great and dignified ceremony, Secretary of State of the
Vatican, Cardinal Sodano, presiding, the exhibition of Scrolls from the Dead Sea was
opened for the public. There were 18 cardinals and 28 ranking archbishops present.
Jacob Fisch, Mark Talisman, President of Project Judaica and Mrs. Barbro Osher of
San Francisco, CA spoke after the Secretary of State and Father Boyle.
Mr. Talisman presented the highly regarded and valued facsimile of the Washington
Haggadah to the Secretary of State of the Vatican and Father Leonard Boyle to be
placed in the Vatican Library.
The timing of this exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls was carefully planned to
coincide with the arrival of the very first Ambassador from Israel to the Vatican
which happily allowed both sides to celebrate through this ground-breaking
exhibition. Displayed adjacent to the Sistine Chapel, eighteen thousand visitors a
day saw the Vatican exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls!
Finally, upon leaving the Vatican, the Scroll fragments returned to the Israel
Museum along with the various objects added to the exhibit by the Vatican Museum
including early Torah scrolls over a thousand years old, and many other texts and
illustrations and maps. This special exhibit augmented the Shrine of the Book Isaiah
exhibit for several months at the Israel Museum for the large and enthusiastic
public in Israel.
This exhibition would have not been possible without the generosity and abiding
moral support of Bernard and Barbro Osher and the Osher Foundation of San Francisco.
Phyllis Cook, Director of the San Francisco Jewish Federation Endowment was the
person most responsible to provide encouragement when no other options appeared to
be available. A special thank you for Jacob Fisch unquenchable thirst for creative
and exciting opportunities to bring Israel rich archaeological collections to the
public's view.
