Scribal practices and approaches reflected in the texts found in the Judean desert / / by Emanuel Tov.

• Superior document: Studies on the texts of the desert of Judah, v. 54
• Author: Tov, Emanuel.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, 2004.
• Year of Publication: 2004
• Language: English
• Series: Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 54.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xxi, 398 pages)

This monograph is written in the form of a handbook on the scribal features of the texts found in the Judean Desert (the Dead Sea Scrolls). It deals in detail with the material, shape, and preparation of the scrolls; scribes and scribal activity; scripts, writing conventions, errors and their correction, scribal signs; scribal traditions; differences between different types of scrolls (e.g., biblical and non-biblical scrolls), the possible existence of scribal schools, such as that at Qumran. In most categories, the analysis is meant to be exhaustive. The detailed analysis is accompanied by tens of tables as well as annotated illustrations and charts of scribal signs. The findings have major implications for the study of the scrolls and the understanding of their relationship to scribal traditions in Israel and elsewhere.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- Scribes -- Writing and Writing Materials -- Technical Aspects of Scroll Writing -- Writing Practices -- Scripts -- Special Scribal Characteristics of Some Groups of Texts -- Scribal Traditions -- Characteristic Features of the Qumran Scribal Practice -- Papyrus Texts from the Judean Desert -- Opisthographs from the Judean Desert -- The Greek Texts from the Judean Desert346 -- Scribal Features of Early Witnesses of Greek Scripture -- The Hebrew Texts from Masada -- Scope and Spacing of the Units in the Biblical Text Quoted in the Pesharim -- Scribal Features of Biblical Manuscripts -- Orthographic and Morphological Features of Texts Written in the Qumran Scribal Practice -- Bibliography -- Figures -- Index I: Ancient Sources -- Index II: Subjects -- Illustrations.