The Dead Sea Scrolls in Historical Perspective

What is it about?

What I am looking for in this article is the historical place of the unique and spectacular find of the Dead Sea Scrolls within ancient Judaism and the Hellenistic context of the 2nd and 1st century BCE.

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Why is it important?

I approach the question from the outside in, so to speak: In a first step, I will define the term “Ancient Judaism” in the Hellenistic-Roman period. In a second step, I will turn to the different Jewish parties in ancient Judaism of this period and ask how the Qumran community relates to these groups. Finally, in a third step, I will outline the historical and ideological development of the Qumran community as it appears to me on the basis of the literary-historical analysis and literary development of the biblical, parabiblical and sectarian writings found in the caves at the Dead Sea.