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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.

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