UJ News

Samia Smadi

UJ Holds a Scientific Day on the Dead Sea Scrolls

On April 12, 2009, UJ held a scientific day on the Dead sea Manuscripts also known as the Qumran Scrolls, which was attended by many historians and archaeologists from different Jordanian universities.

The “Qumran Scrolls” refer to a series of manuscripts by a religious group that settled in Khirbet Qumran near the Dead Sea and were discovered between 1947 and 1956.

Due to their great historical significance, a committee of historians and archaeologists headed by Professor Mohammad Adnan Al-Bakhit was formed to study the scrolls.

Professor Al- Bakhit said that the event comes as part of the celebration of selecting Jerusalem as the Capital of the Arab Culture, and that a section is under construction for the Dead Sea Manuscripts at the Yarmouk University Library in Irbid, pointing to the support offered by UJ for hosting the event. He also paid tribute to the role the government of the Netherlands played in sending a specialist in the Dead Sea Manuscripts from Holland and books relevant to the topic.

Dr. Omar Al-Ghool, the Director of the manuscripts project said that the committee is looking forward to include the Dead Sea manuscripts in the curricula of the universities to highlight its importance. He added that the committee will translate three books in this topic and will launch a website for the Dead Sea scrolls.