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Shrine Of The Book

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Peregrine
Peregrine
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4 out of 5
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Shrine of the Book

  • September 20, 2000
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Peregrine from , New Mexico
Shrine of the Book

This is a must see. We went in mid-morning and must have just missed all the tour buses because we had the place almost to ourselves. The Dead Sea Scrolls are housed here. You walk down a sloping tunnel into the underground building that could double as a movie set for a SciFi flick. (I was told this place is bomb proof, but no one would confirm it.) The long halls are lined with glass-fronted recesses, like little shadow boxes. Inside are various documents found in the caves around Ein Gedi and range from dispatches from Bar Kochba to his troops during his revolt against Rome in 132 C.E. to even earlier documents, including legal papers relating to lawsuits, property deeds, loans and other bits of everyday life.

Not until you are well underground do you see the Scrolls themselves. The room is round and bi-level with walls of stone slabs like so many of the ancient buildings in the city. Some are fragments; some seem to be quite complete. They are absolutely magnificent, even if I can't read a word of them. My fingers just itched to be able to touch them. I think what was most amazing was that these bits and pieces are so beautifully written. I read a lot of old documents, and handwriting is not always readable. Not so with these scrolls. Each perfectly formed letter sits on faint lines drawn for the scribe to follow.

In the deepest part of the Shrine is the circular window holding the Isaiah scroll, wrapped around an oversized version of the rod a Torah is wrapped around. Set off by itself, you can slowly walk around it. What a miracle it is that these fragile pieces of papyrus and parchment have survived so many thousands of years.

From journal Jerusalem: Where the Past Is Present

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