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THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS, 1UDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY
Syllabus ~ Fall, 28
ProIessor Lawrence H. SchiIIman lhs1nyu.edu
Ariel Simon ays200nyu.edu
Tuesday and Thursday, 2:00-3:15PM, Silver Center, room 206
Required Texts:
J. Magness, The Archaeologv of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Grand Rapids, MI:
Eerdmans, 2002.
L. H. SchiIIman, Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society,
1994; ppb. Garden City, NY: Anchor Doubleday, 1995.
J. C. VanderKam and P. Flint, The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Harper San Francisco, 2002.
G. Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, Revised ed., London: Allen Lane,
Penguin, 2004.
Excerpts Irom L. H. SchiIIman, ed., Texts and Traditions. A Source Reader for the Studv of
Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism, Hoboken, NJ: Ktav, 1998, will be distributed.
Class Requirements
Students are expected to come to class and do the reading regularly. Attendance will be taken
and students are permitted only two unexcused absences. Occasional unannounced quizzes
based on the reading assignments will be given during the Iirst part oI class.
Students will write a 10-12 page Iootnoted research paper. The teaching assistant, Ariel Simon,
will be available Ior help and advice on these papers. Note the scheduling oI a special section
with a teaching assistant to help prepare you Ior the writing oI the papers.
Due dates for progress on the paper are as follows:
Tuesday September 16th Optional session: 'Expectations Ior a History Paper 8:00-
9:00PM/ Location TBA
Tuesday September 16
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--Topic
Thursday, October 2
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-- Preliminary Bibliography
Tuesday October 30
th
-- Full Outline with Argument/Thesis
Tuesday, November 25
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-- Paper Due
Late papers will be penalized and extensions will not be granted
Ethical Practices
All students must adhere to the highest ethical and moral standards. Any Iorm oI plagiarism or
cheating will not be tolerated. Violators will be penalized in accordance with the policies
established in the Bulletin oI the College oI Arts and Science (Pg. 370-371;
http://www.nyu.edu/cas/Academic/bulletin0608.pdI).
Plagiarism includes presenting or paraphrasing a phrase, sentence, or passage of a published
work (including material from the World-Wide Web) in a paper or exam answer without
quotation marks and attribution of the source, submitting vour own original work toward
requirements in more than one class without the prior permission of the instructors, submitting a
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paper written bv someone else, submitting as vour own work anv portion of a paper or research
that vou purchased from another person or commercial firm, and presenting in anv other wav
the work, ideas, data, or words of someone else without attribution.
(www.nyu.edu/tisch/preservation/program/ongoing/plagiarism.htm)
Useful Dead Sea Scrolls Websites
Warning: websites other than those listed here may be totally misleading:
The Orion Center Ior the Study oI the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, Hebrew
University oI Jerusalem (http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il/).
The Center Ior Online Judaic Studies (http://cojs/org) click on Dead Sea Scrolls at bottom
right.
Students should consult the Encyclopedia oI the Dead Sea Scrolls (2 vol.), L.H. SchiIIman and J.
C. VanderKam, Editors in ChieI, OxIord-New York: OxIord University Press, 2000. NYU
Bobst REF ~ BM487 .E53 2000
Students are encouraged to make use of the NYU Writing Center:
411 LaIayette, 3rd Floor
Telephone: 212-998-8866 ~ Email: writingcenternyu.edu
Hours: Monday to Thursday, 10 am to 8 pm; Friday, 11 am to 4 pm
http://www.nyu.edu/cas/ewp/html/writingcenter.html
Schedule an Appointment Online: www.rich15.com/nyu/
Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit
During this semester (Sept. 21-Jan. 4) the Jewish Museum (1109 FiIth Avenue at 92nd Street)
will be exhibiting 'The Dead Sea Scrolls: Mysteries oI the Ancient World. All students in our
class are required to visit the exhibit, certiIy their having been there, and write a two-page 'note
on the signiIicance oI an object exhibited there. Take your Iriends along as well!
For more inIormation: http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/DeadSeaScrolls
Grading Distribution
Quizzes and Exhibit Report ~ 20
Paper ~ 40
Final Exam ~ 40
The Iinal exam will be given on Thursday, December 18th - 2:00PM-3:50PM in the Silver
Center, room 206. All students must take the exam at this time.
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Schedule of Sessions
Sept. 2: 1. Introduction
Sept. 4: 2. Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nova PBS Documentary
SchiIIman, xvii-xxvii
Vermes, 1-25
VanderKam and Flint, 3-33
Magness, 1-31
Sept. 9: 3. Scholars, Scrolls and ScandalsThe Controversy oI the Dead Sea Scrollsslide
lecture
Magness, 32-104
Sept. 11: 4. Archaeology oI Qumran (slide lecture)
SchiIIman, 3-61
VanderKam and Flint, 34-84, 381-403
Magness, 73-105, 210-25
Sept. 16: 5. Origin oI the Community: MMT (The Halakhic Letter) and the Sadducean Theory
SchiIIman, 65-95
Vermes, 127-138, 221-29
VanderKam and Flint, 209-38
Sept. 18: 6. Essene Hypothesis and Parallels
VanderKam and Flint, 239-54
Vermes, 46-48
Xerox: L. H. SchiIIman, 275-84
Sept. 23: 7. The Sectarian Organization
SchiIIman, 97-126
Vermes, 26-45, 97-126
Magness, 105-33,188-209
Sept. 25: 8. Women in the Scrolls
SchiIIman, 127-43
Vermes, 283 (hymn 17), 417-18
Magness, 163-87
Sept. 30 NO CLASS
Oct. 2: 9. Theology and the Sect and the Sectarian Hymns
SchiIIman, 145-57
VanderKam and Flint, 255-74
Vermes, 67-90, 249-305
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Oct. 7: 10. The Canon oI the Hebrew Bible at Qumran
SchiIIman, 161 - 169
VanderKam and Flint, 154-181
Oct. 9 and 14 NO CLASS
Oct. 16: 11. The Text oI the Hebrew Bible at Qumran
SchiIIman, 169-180
VanderKam and Flint, 87-153
Oct. 21 NO CLASS
Oct. 23: 12. Apocryphal Texts Irom Qumran
SchiIIman, 181-95
VanderKam and Flint, 182-205
Vermes, 307-18, 539-613
Oct. 28: 13. Wisdom and Sapiential Texts
SchiIIman, 197-210
Vermes, 419-443
Oct. 30: 14. Biblical Interpretation in the Scrolls
SchiIIman, 211-22
VanderKam and Flint, 293-308
Vermes, 461-496
Nov. 4: 15. The Commentaries (Pesharim) and the History oI the Qumran Sect
SchiIIman, 223-41
Vermes, 49-66, 497-536
VanderKam and Flint, 275-92
Nov. 6: 16. Messianism in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Jewish or Christian?
SchiIIman, 317-27, 341-50
Vermes, 532-4

Nov. 11: 17. The Temple Scroll and the History oI Jewish Law
SchiIIman, 245-71
Vermes, 191-220
Nov. 13: 18. Jewish Law in the Scrolls
SchiIIman, 273-87
Vermes, 138-58, 231-40, 497-9
Magness, 134-162
Nov. 18: 19. Religious LiIe, Calendar and Liturgy
SchiIIman, 289-312
Vermes, 347-99
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Nov. 20: 20. The Eschatological Community and the War Scroll
SchiIIman, 329-39
Vermes, 159-190, 387-90, 412-13, 614-22
Nov. 25: 22. Mysticism and Magic
SchiIIman, 351-66
Vermes, 329-39, 347-75, 451-4

Dec. 2: 23. The Scrolls, Early Christianity, and the New Testament
VanderKam and Flint, 311-78
Vermes, 455-7

Dec. 4: 24. Texts Irom Masada and the Bar Kokhba Caves
SchiIIman, 395-409
Xerox: L. H. SchiIIman, Texts and Traditions, 464-469, 487-94, 722-24, 726
Vermes, 625-31
Dec. 9: Conclusion: The Dead Sea Scrolls and Contemporary Judaism and Christianity
Dec. 11: Review Session