This book is concerned with a new perspective on the huge priestly library which was found in 11 caves in Qumran between 1947-1956. The noticeable fact that all the scrolls are sacred texts and many of them relate directly to the Jerusalem Temple, to the Priests from the house of Zadok, to the 24 priestly watches, to the Temple calendar and eternal cycles of sacrifices, to the Levitical tribe and priestly history, raise the question why these sacred texts were committed into nearly complete oblivion for 2200 years. Most of the scrolls reflect profound interest in holy time, holy place, holy ritual and holy memory and express ancient priestly memory related to biblical history with additions of angels, sacred calendar and heavenly temples. The priestly writers of 'the House of Zadok and their allies' who were deposed from the Jerusalem Temple at 175 BCE, in the time of the conquest of Antiochus IV and wrote the scrolls that were found in Qumran, were involved in severe conflict with the new priestly house, the Hasmoneans, who ruled between 152 BCE-37 BCE. The biblical priestly group that became to be known as Saducees was rejected by the new hegemony of the Pharisees, who believed in oral law and human sovereignty, introduced a new order after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple (70 CE), and committed into oblivion a great part of the previous priestly library that was based on written law and divine and angelic sovereignty. This rejected sacred library that was found in the 11 caves along the Dead Sea shores between 1947-1956 is now fully translated and published into all western languages and could be fully appreciated and analysed.

Author Biography

Rachel Elior, Hebrew University of Jerusalem,Israel.