The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Reappraisal

John Allegro was one of the more controversial scroll scholars. An expert linguist, he was included in the scroll's official team in part because he was able to bring this ability, but also because he was not part of a church officialdom, and this enabled him to bring a different perspective - at the time, this was a hoped-for objectivity in interpretation that later ended up being problematic, both for the scroll team and Allegro's publishers.This book is written before Allegro became a controversial figure. Originally published in 1956, less than ten years after the scrolls were discovered, this book was updated in the 1960s for a second edition, and it is that edition reprinted here. While it is true that there have been new discoveries and new interpretations since this edition, it is also true that the great majority of the scrolls had been published by the point of the second edition, making this a still-worthwhile book to read. In the preface to the second edition, Allegro states the long-standing belief that the known scrolls are not the only scrolls, and that some additional scrolls exist in the hands of private individuals, museums, and government organisations not friendly toward the scroll team, the Israeli government, or the Judaic or Christian religions generally. These suspicions about further scrolls being hidden get repeated from time to time, but there is little direct evidence; however, it would not be surprising if sometime in the future new scrolls are revealed.Allegro traces the now-standard history of the discovery of the scrolls in his opening chapters. He introduces the Bedouin figures, church officials, and scholars, going through some of the intrigues that have been a part of the scroll history from the beginning. Found at the outset of the Israeli nation's independence, the history of Middle Eastern politics, governmental, religious and academic, has been intertwined with the fate of the scrolls from the very start. Allegro includes discussion of the archaeological excavations at the Qumran settlement, sticking fairly closely to the idea that it was a monastic-type community for the Essenes, at least one branch of them. He traces some early developmental history of the Jewish society leading up to the time under Roman occupation, and speculates with the help of some of the scroll contents on the structure and life of the community there. He tends to use the term `The Sect' rather than `the Essenes' generally, to keep options open that it might be a different group. Later interpretations from other scroll scholars and outside writers will intensify this question.Allegro makes some connections and parallels with the New Testament and New Testament figures such as John the Baptist and Jesus. Allegro finds little evidence making direct connections between the Qumrani Sect and John the Baptist, although there are many parallels in the teachings and practices. He similarly discounts any direct connections with J