Ancient Jewish Zodiac calendar at Qumran?

Research by Dr Helen Jacobus at the University of Manchester has suggested that Qumran scroll 4Q318 was a precursor to the Jewish calendar.


"According to Dr Jacobus, the Aramaic month names used in the scroll are the same as those used in the Hebrew calendar today. They are, she says, Aramaic translations of the Babylonian month names." and "can still be used to find the moon's position in the zodiac on a given date in the Jewish calendar – "


The full article "A Jewish zodiac calendar at Qumran" is available through Manchester University's e-scholar. Click here to view

Book review: Beyond the Qumran community

Review of John Collins' "Beyond the Qumran community: the Sectarian Movement of the Dead Sea Scrolls" by Alex Jassen (University of Minnesota) in the H-Judaic pages of H-Net Online ("an international consortium of scholars and teachers")
Collins argues in support of the theory that the Khirbet Qumran site is a sectarian settlement. Jassen states that the book "advances considerably our understanding of the origins and identities of the communities of the Dead Sea Scrolls"

Find "Beyond the Qumran community" in SOAS Library at QI296.815 / 733599 (Level C, Stacks 95-96)