Mysteries of The Dead Sea Scrolls

The very mention of the Dead Sea scrolls evokes intriguing questions. Who wrote the scrolls? Why were they placed where they were discovered? Were the people who lived at the nearby site of Qumran responsible for the scrolls? Were these people the Essenes? Or did some other group place them there? And what are we to make of the so-called "Copper Scroll" which purports to contain information about a buried treasure? Such questions continue to drive the scholarly community in its quest to understand the scrolls and the people who produced them.

In this colorfully illustrated presentation, Professor Scott Noegel introduces us to the historical context in which the scrolls were written and surveys the many unanswered questions that surround the discovery and study of these fascinating manuscripts. Learn about Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots and hear about the tragic events that led to the destruction of Jerusalem. Enter a time of great messianic fervor, political turmoil, and religious violence-a time that saw important developments in Judaism and the birth of Christianity.

We hope you can join us October 4, 2006 at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall, Seattle for this exciting discussion.

About Scott Noegel

Scott Noegel is Professor of Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies and Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Washington. He received his Ph.D. in 1995 from Cornell University. Dr. Noegel's publications include nearly sixty articles and six books on a variety of biblical and related topics. His first two books examined the subject of word play in ancient texts. Some of his recent works include: A Historical Dictionary of Prophets in Islam and Judaism (co-authored with Dr. Brannon Wheeler); a co-edited work entitled Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World (Penn State University Press); and Nocturnal Ciphers: The Allusive Language of Dreams in the Ancient Near East (American Oriental Series, in press). His latest book Solomon's Vineyard: Studies in the Song of Songs (co-authored with Dr. Gary Rendsburg) is now in consideration at a publisher. Prof. Noegel is also active in the art world. His digital films that recreate ancient myths in their original tongues led to his nomination as a Rockefeller Foundation National Film/Video/Multimedia Fellow in 1998. From 1999-2001 he served on the Seattle Arts Commission for which he received a Seattle Distinguished Citizen Medal. Prof. Noegel has lectured widely on a variety of topics related to his research on the Hebrew Bible and the ancient world.