RT Article
T1 Apotropaic Means and Methods in the Rules of the Trumpets and Banners (1qm 3-4)
JF Henoch
VO 42
IS 1
SP 117
OP 135
A1 Krause, Andrew R.
LA English
YR 2020
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1744538530
AB Columns 3-4 of the Qumran War Scroll contain a series of prescriptions for inscriptions on trumpets and banners. These have traditionally been read as entirely metaphorical or literary inventions. However, these lists depict an impetus to materiality similar to certain Second Temple Period inscribed metal and papyrus amulets, and they contain many elements in common with what has often been termed the Qumran apotropaic tradition. We should thus question whether these inscriptions might be depicting the manufacture of apotropaic devices for a more mundane usage. That these inscriptions are highly structured and can be grouped into statements of either praise or divine election, both of which are common apotropaic elements, indicates some apotropaic efficacy for the Ya?ad movement. As with the various Qumran tefillin and mezuzot, we should also question whether these inscriptions would have a performative element that would relate them to prayer or incantation.
K1 banners
K1 BRASS instruments
K1 Elections
K1 Inscriptions
K1 Praise
K1 Reading
K1 Trumpet
K1 War Scroll
K1 apotropaic devices
K1 apotropaic methods
K1 trumpets