Reconsidering the date of the En-Gedi Leviticus scroll (EGLev): exploring the limitations of the comparative-typological paleographic method

Yardeni dated the charred En-Gedi Leviticus scroll (EGLev) to the second half of the first or early second century CE. Paleographic evidence is often ambiguous and can provide only an imprecise basis for dating EGLev. Nevertheless, a series of important typological developments evident in the hand o...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Longacre, Drew ca. 21. Jh. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 2018
In: Textus
Year: 2018, Volume: 27, Issue: 1, Pages: 44-84
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Textual criticism / Leviticus / Paleography
IxTheo Classification:HB Old Testament
HH Archaeology
Further subjects:B Radiocarbon dating
B EGLev
B Dead Sea Scrolls
B Leviticus
B En-Gedi
B Paleography
B Scribal Practices
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Yardeni dated the charred En-Gedi Leviticus scroll (EGLev) to the second half of the first or early second century CE. Paleographic evidence is often ambiguous and can provide only an imprecise basis for dating EGLev. Nevertheless, a series of important typological developments evident in the hand of EGLev suggests a date somewhat later than the Dead Sea Scrolls of the first–second centuries, but clearly earlier than comparanda from the sixth–eighth centuries. The cumulative supporting evidence from the archeological context, bibliographic/voluminological details (wooden roller and metallic ink), format and layout (tall, narrow columns)—each individually indeterminative—also suggests dating EGLev to the period from the third–sixth centuries CE. I argue that EGLev should be dated to the third–fourth centuries CE, with only a small possibility that it could have been written in the second or fifth centuries, which is possibly supported by radiocarbon dating.
ISSN:2589-255X
Contains:Enthalten in: Textus
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/2589255X-02701004