Arts & Humanities
Lecture Series 2009-2010
Phebe McClatchy Conley Classics Lecture for 2009
Jodi Magness, Ph.D.
Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
“The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls”
In 1947, a Bedouin boy stumbled upon the greatest find of the 20th century: ancient scrolls dating to the time of Jesus, deposited in a cave by the site of Qumran on the Dead Sea. Eventually over 900 scrolls were found, by archaeologists and bedouin, in 11 caves surrounding Qumran. The scrolls were deposited in the caves by members of a Jewish sect—apparently the Essenes—who lived at Qumran. In this slide-illustrated lecture we survey the archaeological remains at Qumran and discuss their relationship to the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Jodi Magness is the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received her B.A. in Archaeology and History from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1977), and her Ph.D. in Classical Archaeology from the University of Pennsylvania (1989). Professor Magness has participated on 20 different excavations in Israel and Greece, including co-directing the 1995 excavations in the Roman siege works at Masada. From 1997-99 she co-directed excavations at Khirbet Yattir in Israel. From 2003-2007, Professor Magness co-directed excavations in the late Roman fort at Yotvata, Israel. Professor Magness’ book, "The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls" (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002) won the 2003 Biblical Archaeology Society’s Award for Best Popular Book in Archaeology in 2001-2002 and was selected as an “Outstanding Academic Book for 2003” by Choice Magazine. Professor Magness’ book, "The Archaeology of the Early Islamic Settlement in Palestine" (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2003) was awarded the 2006 Irene Levi-Sala Book Prize in the category of non-fiction on the archaeology of Israel.