Ten Years of Discovery in the Wilderness of Judaea

by J.T. Milik

J. T. MILIK was a Polish priest who, after brilliant studies in Rome, worked in Jerusalem from 1952, first at the cole Biblique et Archologique Franaise, and later in connection with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. He took part in the exploration of the Qumrn. From the beginning, he collaborated in the work of publication. With Father D. Barthlemy he published the fragments from Cave I, Qumrn Cave I (Discoveries in the Judaean Desert), Oxford 1955; he was the most active member of the international team, which prepared for publication the considerable collection from Cave IV. The fragments from Cave V and the copper rolls from Cave III were entrusted to him. He would eventually publish the Hebrew and Aramaic documents from Murabba't; he published some fragments from Hirbet Mird and from unidentified caves in the south. He had been given direct access to all the documents still unpublished, which were kept together in the Palestine Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem. In short, this work was written by a specialist who knew better than anyone the places and documents of which he spoke.

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2005

Reviews

[Richard Brand · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know so little about this subject that it is pretty much a waste for me to review this book. Milik does cover what seems to be the major topics: evidence of the existence of the sites, two different periods, the Jewish history relating to the settlements, the literary pieces and the history of the different writing styles. The relationship with the early Christian traditions. Those who specialize in these kind of studies might have a more detail critique, but I did not find it terribly exciting, nor enlightening about the subject. It was a discipline project to finish it.