library of congress to host dead sea scroll symposium april library of congress to host dead sea scroll symposium april to national and assignment desks daybook editor contact john sullivan or lucy suddreth both of the library of congress washington april a symposium on the dead sea scrolls will be held at the library of congress on wednesday april and thursday april the two day program cosponsored by the library and baltimore hebrew university with additional support from the project judaica foundation will be held in the library s mumford room sixth floor madison building seating is limited and admission to any session of the symposium must be requested in writing see note a the symposium will be held one week before the public opening of a major exhibition scrolls from the dead sea the ancient library of qumran and modern scholarship that opens at the library of congress on april on view will be fragmentary scrolls and archaeological artifacts excavated at qumran on loan from the israel antiquities authority approximately items from library of congress special collections will augment these materials the exhibition on view in the madison gallery through aug is made possible by a generous gift from the project judaica foundation of washington d c the dead sea scrolls have been the focus of public and scholarly interest since when they were discovered in the desert miles east of jerusalem the symposium will explore the origin and meaning of the scrolls and current scholarship scholars from diverse academic backgrounds and religious affiliations will offer their disparate views ensuring a lively discussion the symposium schedule includes opening remarks on april at p m by librarian of congress james h billington and by dr norma furst president baltimore hebrew university co chairing the symposium are joseph baumgarten professor of rabbinic literature and institutions baltimore hebrew university and michael grunberger head hebraic section library of congress geza vermes professor emeritus of jewish studies oxford university will give the keynote address on the current state of scroll research focusing on where we stand today on the second day the closing address will be given by shmaryahu talmon who will propose a research agenda picking up the theme of how the qumran studies might proceed on wednesday april other speakers will include eugene ulrich professor of hebrew scriptures university of notre dame and chief editor biblical scrolls from qumran on the bible at qumran michael stone national endowment for the humanities distinguished visiting professor of religious studies university of richmond on the dead sea scrolls and the pseudepigrapha from p m to p m a special preview of the exhibition will be given to symposium participants and guests on thursday april beginning at a m speakers will include magen broshi curator shrine of the book israel museum jerusalem on qumran the archaeological evidence p kyle mccarter albright professor of biblical and ancient near eastern studies the johns hopkins university on the copper scroll lawrence h schiffman professor of hebrew and judaic studies new york university on the dead sea scrolls and the history of judaism and james vanderkam professor of theology university of notre dame on messianism in the scrolls and in early christianity the thursday afternoon sessions at p m include devorah dimant associate professor of bible and ancient jewish thought university of haifa on qumran manuscripts library of a jewish community norman golb rosenberger professor of jewish history and civilization oriental institute university of chicago on the current status of the jerusalem origin of the scrolls shmaryahu talmon j l magnas professor emeritus of biblical studies hebrew university jerusalem on the essential commune of the renewed covenant how should qumran studies proceed will close the symposium there will be ample time for question and answer periods at the end of each session also on wednesday april at a m the library of congress and the israel antiquities authority will hold a lecture by esther boyd alkalay consulting conservator israel antiquities authority on preserving the dead sea scrolls in the mumford room lm james madison memorial building the library of congress independence ave s e washington d c note a for more information about admission to the symposium please contact in writing dr michael grunberger head hebraic section african and middle eastern division library of congress washington d c canada remote systems toronto ontario
