Top Scholar on Dead Sea Scrolls to Speak
at Lycoming College

The title of his talk is "Apocalypticism and Messianism: From the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Rabbis." Dr. Schiffman will discuss two ideas—messiahs and the end the world—as they are defined in Rabbinic literature and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Dr. Schiffman has spent the major part of his career studying the Dead Sea Scrolls. The ancient manuscripts written about the time of Christ (250 B.C. to about 135 A.D.) were discovered in caves along the Dead Sea from 1947 to 1956. They comprise about 800 documents in both complete and fragmentary form and represent the oldest copies of the Bible in existence and one of most important archaeological discoveries of the 20^th century.

"We are very fortunate to have Dr. Schiffman on our campus," says Dr. John F. Piper, Jr., Dean of the College. "We wanted to give the greater Williamsport community a chance to hear him as well."

"He is an amazing scholar," says Dr. Robin DeWitt Knauth, who teaches Hebrew and Old Testament at Lycoming College. "I can’t tell you how delighted I am to have him on campus."

As a member of the editorial team that published the Dead Sea Scrolls, Dr. Schiffman has also written several books and published over 150 articles on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinic Judaism. In addition to being the Edelman Professor, Dr. Schiffman is the Chair of New York University’s Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies. He is a member of the University’s Center for Near Eastern Studies and Center for Ancient Studies, and also the Past President of the Association for Jewish Studies.

Dr. Schiffman was featured in the PBS Nova series documentary, "Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls." He has also been an active participant in three BBC documentaries on the scrolls, as well as appearing on the McNeil-Lehrer program, and a Discovery special. He appears regularly on the Arts and Entertainment channel in the popular educational series, "Mysteries of the Bible." He is now appearing in National Geographic’s series "Science of the Bible."

In addition to New York University, he has been visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University, University of Toronto, Yale University, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Duke University, and the Russian State University for the Humanities in Moscow.

His doctorate, as well as his master’s and bachelor’s degrees, are from Brandeis University in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies.

The September 28^th lecture is free and the public is invited.

--end--