IMS: Hershel Shanks, National Press Club

Hershel Shanks

Hershel Shanks, Editor of the Biblical Archaeological Review, has been called the "Daniel Ellsberg of Biblical Scholarship." Largely responsible for the liberation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Shanks is the author of 8 books and numerous scholarly articles.

In this address, Shanks discusses how the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, how they were hidden again, and then finally released to the public eye. The Scrolls contain some of the earliest existing versions of the Hebrew Bible, texts penned while there were still multiple versions, giving a fascinating glimpse into the development of both Jewish and Christian religions. The Scrolls also contain books, hymns, psalms, letters, and a fascinating copper scroll listing the locations of 64 sites with buried treasure containing huge quantities of gold.

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