Freeing the Dead Sea Scrolls: And Other Adventures of an Archaeology Outsider
Overview
A world-renowned biblical archaeology scholar, Hershel Shanks is the Founder and Editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review. Once a successful Washington Attorney, Shanks changed careers after a trip to the Holy Land and devoted himself to the study of biblical archaeology.
When the Dead Sea Scrolls (1947-1956) were discovered, a complex tale of theft and conspiracy began in the world of biblical archaeology. Hershel Shanks, a chief protagonist in the story, spearheaded a campaign to release the scrolls to the wider scholarly community throughout the 1980s, using the Biblical Archaeology Review as a mouthpiece for the cause. Later Shanks’ involvement greatly increased when he published reconstructed fascicles of the secret scrolls amidst much controversy. Shanks must be seen as one of the crucial factors that finally brought these vital tools of academic study, these Dead Sea Scrolls, to the wider world.
Elsewhere Shanks’ vigorous defense of the authenticity of the Ossuary—which is said to have contained the bones of The Brother of Jesus - is explored in one of the book's liveliest chapters.
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- Explores the life and work of Hershel Shanks
- Examines key events in biblical archaeology
- Preface
- In the Beginning
- The Sharon Years
- My College Years
- Columbia, Harvard and the Department of Justice
- Practising Law
- Our Year in Israel
- Starting BAR
- Maturing BAR
- Freeing the Scrolls
- Losing in Court
- The Pomegranate and the Ossuary
- The Yehoash Plaque
- The Forgery Trial of the Century
- My Credo
As always, Shank’s style is clear and understandable for a wide audience ... Readers with an interest in Bible History can read it as a primer.
—Baptist Times
Freeing the Dead Sea Scrolls makes a nice read, and gives insight in Shanks’ relations with scholars.
—Journal for the Study of Judaism
He’s not exactly a household name, but anybody who has been paying only intermittent attention to the tricky, contentious and occasionally litigious world of biblical archaeology will know that Hershel Shanks, who at the age of 80 has just published his autobiography, is the leading non-archaeologist in the field.
—Richard Bernstein, The New York Times
- Title: Freeing the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Adventures of an Archaeology Outsider
- Author: Hershel Shanks
- Publisher: Continuum
- Print Publication Date: 2010
- Logos Release Date: 2022
- Pages: 251
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subjects: Shanks, Hershel; Bible › Antiquities; Archaeologists › United States--Biography; Archaeology › Corrupt practices
- ISBNs: 9781441152176, 1441152172
- Resource ID: LLS:FRNGDDSSCRLLS
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-10-06T19:28:17Z
Hershel Shanks founded the Biblical Archaeology Society in 1974 and published the first issue of Biblical Archaeology Review in 1975. He served as the editor of BAR until his retirement in 2017. In the very first issue, Hershel wrote, “The aim of The Biblical Archaeology Review is to make available in understandable language the current insights of professional archaeology as they relate to the Bible.” In his 43 years as editor, he did not deviate from this mission.