Media studies is an emerging discipline that is quickly making an impact within the wider field of biblical scholarship. This volume is designed to evaluate the status quaestionis of the Dead Sea Scrolls as products of an ancient media culture, with leading scholars in the Dead Sea Scrolls and related disciplines reviewing how scholarship has addressed issues of ancient media in the past, assessing the use of media criticism in current research, and outlining potential directions for future discussions.
Travis B. Williams, Ph.D. (2011), University of Exeter, is Professor of Religion at Tusculum University. He has published numerous monographs and articles on various topics related to ancient Judaism and early Christianity, including History and Memory in the Dead Sea Scrolls (Cambridge, 2019).
Chris Keith, Ph.D. (2008), University of Edinburgh, is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society. He serves as the editor of the Library of New Testament Studies and his most recent book is The Gospel as Manuscript: An Early History of the Jesus Tradition as Material Artifact (Oxford University Press, 2020).
Loren T. Stuckenbruck, Ph.D. (1994), Princeton Theological Seminary, is Professor of New Testament at Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität München. He has acted as editor for a number of journals and monograph series, and has published a number of monographs, edited nearly twenty books, and 160 articles in the areas of New Testament, Second Temple Jewish, early Christian tradition, and Ethiopian studies, including The Myth of Rebellious Angels (Mohr Siebeck and Eerdmans, 2017).
Contents
List of Figures Notes on Contributors
1 Introduction Chris Keith
2 Studies in Ancient Media Culture: An Overview Travis B. Williams
Part 1: Past Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Ancient Media
3 Textuality and the Dead Sea Scrolls: An Examination of Modern Approaches and Recent Trends Travis B. Williams
4 Is There a Spoken Voice in This Cave? Orality and the Dead Sea Scrolls Shem Miller
5 Ritual Studies and the Dead Sea Scrolls: A Review Michael DeVries and Jutta Jokiranta
Part 2: Present Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Ancient Media
6 Book Production and Circulation in Ancient Judaea: Evidenced by Writing Quality and Skills in the Dead Sea Scrolls Isaiah and Serekh Manuscripts Mladen Popović
7 4Q169 (Pesher Nahum) in Its Ancient Media Context Pieter B. Hartog
8 The Copper Scroll: The Medium, the Context and the Archaeology Joan E. Taylor
9 Curated Communities: Refracted Realities at Qumran and on Social Media Charlotte Hempel
10 Orality and Written-ness in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Where Have We Got to and Where Are We Going? George J. Brooke
11 Rituals as Media: Shared, Embodied, and Extended Knowledge Mediation in Rituals Jutta Jokiranta
12 Rations, Refreshments, Reading, and Revelation: The Multifunction of the Common Meal in the Qumran Movement Cecilia Wassén
Part 3: Future Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Ancient Media
13 Mediated Textuality: Ambient Orality and the Dead Sea Scrolls Maxine L. Grossman
14 The Dead Sea Scrolls: A View from New Testament Studies Chris Keith
15 The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Classicist’s View William A. Johnson
Index of Modern Authors Index of Ancient Sources
Both students and specialists who work in the fields of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient media, and biblical studies more generally.