Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit is awe-inspiring for archdiocesan pilgrims

These pottery jars contained ancient religious documents for more than 2,000 years before they were discovered in 11 remote caves near Khirbet Qumran on the desolate northern shores of the Dead Sea in Israel. They were found by Bedoin goat herders and archaeologists between 1947 and 1956. Archdiocesan pilgrims traveled to the Cincinnati Museum Center on Dec. 12 to view fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls displayed in a “once-in-a-lifetime” traveling exhibit on loan from the Israel Antiquities Authority. (Photo by Mary Ann Garber)

By Mary Ann Garber

CINCINNATI—Gazing at priceless fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls on display at the Cincinnati Museum Center, Auxiliary Bishop Christopher J. Coyne marveled at the miraculous survival of the more than 2,000-year-old leather and papyrus parchments that predate the birth of Christ.

The awe-inspiring exhibit of scrolls written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek includes a computerized, interactive display featuring the translated texts of the Ten Commandments.

Billed as a “blockbuster exhibition” and “once-in-a-lifetime” experience, the “Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Ancient Times” traveling exhibit is the largest collection of ancient Holy Land artifacts ever to go on tour outside Israel.

More than 600 artifacts represent the Biblical to Byzantine periods in Israel that “shaped Western culture,” the exhibit’s educational information explains, and “gave rise to Judaism, Christianity and, eventually, Islam.”

In addition to fragments of the scrolls, the interactive exhibit showcases religious articles, pottery, weapons, stone carvings, textiles, mosaics and jewelry.

There is even a 3-ton stone from a section of the Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem. Museum visitors may write prayers on small papers then put them on top of this stone. Later, these confidential petitions are sent to the Holy Land and placed inside cracks in the revered wall.

Dr. Risa Levitt Kohn is a co-curator of this historic religious exhibition on tour at several museums in the United States with the permission of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

She is a professor and chair of the religious studies department as well as the classics and humanities department at San Diego State University in California, and directs the Jewish studies program there.

In an e-mail interview, Levitt Kohn noted that “it is really a great honor and a huge privilege to have worked with the Israel Antiquities Authority in preparing and designing this exhibition.

“It is always a thrill to see the objects in the show up close and personal,” she wrote, echoing the comments of archdiocesan Catholics who enjoyed traveling with Bishop Coyne on a

one-day pilgrimage to Cincinnati and northern Kentucky on Dec. 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, to view fragments of the world-famous Dead Sea Scrolls.

She said scholars have determined that the parchments miraculously survived for more than two millennia because they were stored in dry caves that provided the perfect environmental conditions for their preservation.

“The scrolls survived largely because of their geographic location,” Levitt Kohn noted, “tucked away in dark caves in an area where both the humidity and climate were perfectly suited for [storing] organic materials. This particular combination of conditions is very unusual and unlike any other part of Israel.”

The Dead Sea Scrolls date from the third century before Christ to the first century, the exhibit literature explains, and contain some of the oldest known copies of biblical books, hymns, prayers and other valuable religious documents.

These ancient manuscripts were hidden in 11 remote caves near Khirbet Qumran on the desolate northern shores of the Dead Sea in Israel then discovered in the 20th century by Bedoin goat herders and archaeologists between 1947 and 1956.

Archaeologists carefully pieced together at least 100,000 parchment fragments into more than 900 documents that have become international treasures.

A museum narrator told the pilgrims that the scrolls represent “our closest written connection to Abraham, Moses and Jesus,” and the priceless Hebrew manuscripts “bring this long lost world to life.”

This era was “the golden age of ancient Israel,” the narrator explained, “when the Bible was being written to the days of the legendary first temple that King David’s son, Solomon, built to house the Ark of the Covenant almost 3,000 years ago.”

It also was a time of conquest by the Babylonians and later the Romans. These invaders overwhelmed the land, and in turn destroyed the first and second temples, the narrator noted, so jars like those containing the scrolls were carried to safety and hidden in caves some 20 miles from the temple in Jerusalem.

Amazingly, the remote caves are located nearly 1,400 feet below sea level, the lowest elevation on Earth, and surrounded by a treacherous desert.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are recognized as “among the greatest archaeological treasures” ever discovered, the exhibit literature explains, and are “the oldest known copies of … the Old Testament.”

Copies of the biblical Book of Psalms comprise the greatest number of scrolls found in the caves, the narrator explained.

One fragment on display is part of Psalm 119, the longest of the psalms.

About 30 manuscripts from the Book of Genesis also were uncovered in the desolate Judean desert.

St. Susanna parishioners Leroy and Elizabeth Bateman of Plainfield said the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit was “fantastic.”

They had journeyed to the Holy Land on a pilgrimage with Archbishop Emeritus Daniel M. Buechlein in 2008.

“The condition that the scrolls are in is unbelievable,” Elizabeth Bateman said. “It is really amazing. I thought the exhibit was fabulous. … It makes you stop and think about what you are reading in Scripture.”

Leroy Bateman said he enjoyed experiencing “more of the history that comes from that area.”

Their favorite memories of the Holy Land pilgrimage were time spent on a boat on the Sea of Galilee and the opportunity to wade in the Dead Sea.

“We saw where the Dead Sea Scrolls were actually found,” he said, “and that made this [exhibit] even more meaningful.”

Lori Trimble, a member of SS. Philomena and Cecilia Parish in Oak Forest, said the opportunity to view the scroll fragments up close “helps solidify your faith when you can actually see proof of God’s word.”

Before they visited the museum, Bishop Coyne celebrated Mass with the pilgrims at the historic and ornate St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, in Covington, Ky.

The Gothic cathedral’s façade resembles Notre Dame in Paris. Ornate woodworking and one of the largest stained-glass windows in the world grace the interior of the lofty, arched basilica.

“We are so blessed to be given the faith that we share,” Bishop Coyne said in his homily, “and to be able to offer our prayers in union with the greatest of witnesses, the greatest of disciples, and our intercessor, the Blessed Virgin Mary, on this feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.”
 

(For more information about the Dead Sea Scrolls traveling exhibit, log on to the Cincinnati Museum Center’s website at www.cincymuseum.org.) †