The Dead Sea Scrolls in Perspective.

• Author: Eshel, Esther
• Position: Book review

The Dead Sea Scrolls in Perspective. By JOHN C. TREVER. North Richmond Hills, Texas: BIBAL PRESS, 2004. Pp. xv + 63 plates. $19.95 (paper).

The stated aim of John C. Trever's The Dead Sea Scrolls in Perspective is to present the author's collection of unpublished photos of Cave 1 scrolls, and to contextualize these photographs by providing a general introduction to the story of the scrolls. This small volume also includes a chapter on the importance of the book of Daniel for the Dead Sea sect. Trever's photos of the scrolls and of the site of Qumran are clearly reproduced, many in vivid color. It should be noted however, that many of these photos had in fact already been published previously. (1)

A significant flaw in Trever's new book is the idiosyncratic bias of its author. As the "first American scholar to ever see one of the Dead Sea Scrolls," Trever is indeed uniquely qualified to provide a captivating eyewitness account of the story of the scrolls, but his perspective is consistently self-serving and myopic. Many of the details of his version of the discovery of the scrolls have already been recorded in his previous publications, and the previously unpublished data are of doubtful authenticity and usefulness.

Trever divides the discovery of Qumran Cave 1 into three phases, each of which is the subject of one of the first three chapters. Each part is marked by a new phase of discovery and rediscovery of Cave 1 by Bedouins.

Chapter one, "The First Discovery of Qumran Cave 1 Scrolls," brings what Trever calls "the true story," based on his personal interviews with an otherwise unknown Bedouin named Khalil Musa. It is unclear how this unverifiable new addition to the dramatis personae of the saga of the scrolls is intended to enhance the reader's comprehension or appreciation of the scrolls.

Chapter two, "The Second Discovery of Qumran Cave 1 Scrolls," continues the story of the discovery. This chapter focuses primarily on the Genesis Apocryphon, and concludes with a statement by Bruce Zuckerman concerning the so-called "Trever Fragment," which is part of column 1 of the Genesis Apocryphon.

Chapter three, "The Third Discovery of Qumran Cave 1 Scrolls," deals with the last part of the discovery of the scrolls from Cave 1. Discussed in this chapter is the first professional archaeological excavation of Cave 1, undertaken by Lankester Harding, the Inspector of Antiquities of Jordan, who found some additional scroll fragments. This chapter also includes Trever's study of the Daniel scrolls found in that cave.

Chapter four, "The Source of the Qumran Scrolls," deals with the last part of the story, including the arrival of the four original Cave 1 scrolls in New York, and the excavations of Khirbet Qumran and the remaining scroll caves by Harding and R. de Vaux, director of the Ecole Biblique et Archeologique in...