DSS.950202 Minutes for RELS 225 (#6), Feb. 2, 1995  
Lisa Bronowitz, recorder; Cara Weinstein, editorial consultant.

The class began with a statement of a problem with the sending of the
minutes to the final editor (RAK): if the minutes are forwarded between
the partners and then to RAK, every line might be preceded by symbols that
impede further editing (e.g. a greater-than sign and an indentation). 
Several suggestions were put forward on how to cope with the situation:
(1) save the minutes to a file (e.g.  dss.min6) and import them from the
file to a mail message; (2) type f to forward the minutes within ELM, and
then to edit them before sending them; (3) change ELM options accordingly. 

After people reinstalled their name tags, someone asked how to print
e-mail.  You can upload from the net to your own disk.  You can also go to
the unix prompt and type "cat [filename]", and you can download using
modem software and ascii format. On some systems, printing directly from 
the incoming mail file (or printing the screen) is also possible.

The 1984 Allegro book, DEAD SEA SCROLLS AND THE CHRISTIAN MYTH, is
usable for the purpose of the book evaluation.  Be sure to get your bid 
in SOON for a review book. The reviews are due before spring break.

If you're ambitious, perhaps the most thorough introduction to the Dead
Sea Scrolls was written by Miller Burrows, a Yale professor, in two
volumes (1955 and 1957). It is very long, and has lots of discussion of
various theories proposed when the DSS first came to light, and there is
very little which you won't find in there.  If you look for it in the Penn
library, remember that since you are looking for a book from the fifties,
you should check the card catalog if it isn't on the computer (the
electronic catalogue is not complete for pre-1970 materials).  One of the
best-kept secrets in Van Pelt Library is in the back of the card catalog
section.  The Yarnall card catalog is a small but high quality collection
which had to be left in Philadelphia when the Episcopalian Seminary here
merged with the seminary in Cambridge MA.  They had to leave part of their
library, so the university agreed to house it.  It includes many texts and
translations, and these resources are able to circulate. 

An admonition: As you work your way into this subject matter, make a
distinction between the Dead Sea scrolls people (writers, copyists,
readers) and the Qumran (near Ain Feshka) site. The former concerns the
evidence from the caves and the latter is the evidence from the ruins. 
They may not necessarily correspond at all (or any) points -- this is an 
issue for discussion. 

Important Jewish groups of the general era and area (see especially 
Josephus War 2.8 and Antiquities 18.1, for the first four):

Sadducees (p. 93 of Vanderkam in the context of who wrote the Dead Sea 
Scrolls);

Pharisees (see VanderKam and Fitzmyer indices, esp. Fitzmyer 93ff);

Essenes (we will discuss them ad nauseum);

Zealots and/or Sicarii (a debated category);

Nazarenes [Christians, Messianists] (you will see different spellings);

Therapeutae:  A "monastic" order described by Philo.  They lived in Egypt 
by the Mariotic lake, which is located southwest of Alexandria.  Since 
Philo's description of this group coincided with his idea of an ideal 
community, there is some debate as to whether or not the group was his 
fictitious invention.  Also, some scholars argue that the Therapeutae
were a Greek-speaking sister community to the Semitic Essenes.

Samaritans: Described by Josephus, but not as a subgroup of the Jews;

Elephantine: The remains of a Jewish temple at this site were found on an
island in the Nile.  These remains date from the sixth to fifth century
BCE. We know about the site because archaeologists found papyrii there
written in a Semitic dialect and addressing Jewish affairs. 

The Dead Sea Scroll People (if not identical with Essenes);

Boethians: Were mentioned in the New Testament.

We also discussed Heliopolis (also called Leontopolis, perhaps wrongly), a
place in the northeast area of modern Cairo.  The City of the Sun figures
in the Moses and Joseph stories.  Joseph is said to have married the
daughter of the priest of Heliopolis.  Josephus wrote about this site in
168 or 165 BCE.  This was the time of the Hasmonean or Maccabean revolt. 
Antiochus IV (Antiochus Epiphanes) was the Seleucid ruler at the time.  He
wanted unity in his realm, but there were spots of resistance, including
Jerusalem.  Antiochus intended to use the Temple as a place of worship of
"the" god which was called by different names by different peoples.  In
this way, the Temple would be a site of acquiescence to his rule and a
source of good "P.R." for his power.  Antiochus tried to negotiate with
Jewish leaders (especially the priestly elite), but not all of them would
cooperate.  Onias IV, a Jewish leader of the line of the high priest, took
some followers and went into Egypt to get permission from the Ptolemaic
king to build a temple in exile in Heliopolis.  The temple existed and
functioned until it was closed by the Romans in the wake of the First
Jewish Revolt (see Josephus War 7.10). 

"Syncretism" -- the gathering of elements and ideas from other
cultures/religions and using them as part of your group's
ideology/identity. Almost all religions or cultural groupings, including
Judaism, are syncretistic in some sense -- "pure" Judaism, for example,  
can't be found historically, since it has been incorporating aspects of 
other cultures from the very first. 

A caveat about terminology: The "Temple" (Jewish) normally refers to the
priestly temple in Jerusalem; other Jewish gatherings and gathering places
are usually called "synagogues", from the Greek term meaning meeting of
people.  The moral: To cut down on confusion, be specific.  The
characteristic that makes a temple a temple is the presence of the
priestly rites ("cult"). 

Notes about historical characters: Onias III and IV were of the highest 
priestly line (also the line of Jason, who built a gymnasium in Jerusalem 
for education in the Greek style, and his rival Menelaus -- see 
2 Maccabees 4).  

Zadok, sons thereof -- some think that the Sadducees took their name from
the Zadokites; note the importance of this name in the Damascus Document. 

Samaritans: Were they looked down upon?  They lived to the north of
Jerusalem, in Samaria.  The Samaritans had a temple on a hilly area, which
was called Gerizim in ancient times.  They were an offshoot of the outlook
of "Ancient Israel" that forms the backdrop of what we have come to call
"Judaism." From some perspectives (e.g. Romans living in Rome), the
Samaritans were were similar enough to the Jews that they were probably
lumped together (Josephus even suggests that on occasion, Samaritans 
called themselves Jews). 

The two ancient kingdoms behind this all:  In 931-921 BCE (in the wake of
King Solomon's death), there was a rebellion amongst his heirs and
successors.  The country was split into two kingdoms:  Israel in the north
and Judah in the south. The designation "Jew" derives from the southern
kingdom of "Judah," with Jerusalem as its capital. 

//end DSS.950202//