Introduction

The Dead Sea Scrolls Project was established by the Oriental Institute during the months that followed the freeing of the scrolls (autumn 1991). The project was originally staffed by Dr. Norman Golb, Professor of Jewish History and Civilization, Dr. Michael Wise, Assistant Professor of Aramaic, as well as by our graduate research assistant, Anthony Tomasino.

From the beginning the project developed in several directions. First and foremost, there was the challenging task of deciphering and translating, from photographs, the manuscripts from Qumran Cave Four that had previously remained unpublished. Another aspect has been to explore the overall problem of identification of the authors of the scrolls and, increasingly, to examine the specifics of the Khirbet Qumran site and the theory that the manuscripts found in the nearby caves were composed by a sect ostensibly living there.

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