How Duke lost Dead Sea scrolls

In 1950, Duke University was offered a chance to buy a portion of what is now considered the most important archaeological discovery of the 20th century.

[View from Here]

This is in fact an offensive, biased and misleading exhibit, in which the current state of research on the Dead Sea Scrolls has been carefully distorted to cater to a Christian perspective.

See, e.g., University of Chicago historian Norman Golb's editorial at http://www.forward.com/articles/10497/

In a word, the Raleigh museum (which is run by the North Carolina Department of the Environment) agreed to downplay and conceal the evidence brought to light by a major group of secular-minded, Jewish researchers who, over the past decade, have rejected the old "Essene" theory of scroll origins, and to physically exclude them from participating in the lecture series accompanying the exhibit.

I'm speaking of specific material evidence, and of telling the simple truth. Giving lip-service to "other ideas" does not suffice. They have failed to inform the public of the reasons that have led MANY (not "some") scholars, including Israel's most prominent archaeologists, to conclude that no sect ever lived at Qumran and that the scrolls are the remains of libraries from the Jerusalem area.

Since the museum is a state-run institution, the role of government officials in displaying religiously controversial artifacts must be addressed.

This is, of course, a serious issue that should be carefully examined by major news sources. Instead, we have silence, viciously implied innuendo about Jewish culture coming from North Carolina authorities (including an antisemitic statement on the museum's website), mendacious claims about a fabricated "consensus" that no longer exists, and a continuing pattern of catering to evangelical -- and, I might add, financial -- interests.

For further information on this propoganda masquerading as an exhibit, previously dished out to the public in various private "science" museums around the country, see, e.g.,

http://spinozaslens.com/libet/articles/dworki...

or

http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/did-christia... .

[View from Here]

As a follow-up to my posting above: the Spinoza's Lens website is down, together with the Robert Dworkin article on the "Ethics of Exhibition" that I had linked. The article, however, has been posted separately at http://robertdworkin.wordpress.com/2008/07/12...

[David Peterson]

One of the people invited to participate in the museum’s “distinguished lecture” series has now admitted he is not even a Dead Sea scrolls expert. See http://biblicalraleigh.wordpress.com/ .

And for more on this lecture series which was obviously rigged, see http://timothyfishbane.wordpress.com/dead-sea... .