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Article: Scholar Believes Israel Hiding Origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- March 30, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1996 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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Israeli authorities won't reveal results of DNA tests on the Dead
Sea scrolls because they would show the texts were written by
mainline Jews rather than a small extremist sect, a University of
Chicago scholar said Friday.
This could shed new light on the ancient Jews as well as on the
origins of Christianity, said Norman Golb, professor of Jewish
History and Civilization.
"The widespread conception is that not more than 4,000 people
were the main bearers of the Jewish literary tradition of that period
- not the 3 million Jews of Palestine - so we have a skewed
conception of the intellectual cultural history of the Jewish people
of Palestine at this time," Golb told a lunchtime crowd ...