Several
Qumran manuscripts are presented to BNF. They show that the Bible was not
written in one day. This is one of the greatest archaeological
discoveries of the twentieth century, which sparked hopes and
controversy among Jews and Christians, and an incredible treasure hunt.
The Dead Sea Scrolls, which are the subject of an exhibition at the
BNF, until July 11, draining even a hint of mystery. These texts bring
us closer to the big bang of the Bible, Book founder of the three
monotheistic religions. With this discovery, it has won a
thousand years of knowledge. With nearly 900 manuscripts,
is a specialized library in Jewish spirituality that has rested for
nearly two centuries in eleven caves. All of this Qumran Jewish
writings oldest ever assembled, but also a testimony that illuminates
the religious life at the time of the birth of Christianity. France,
which has contributed greatly to dig through the father of Vaux, has
acquired "legally" 351 pieces of these precious writings, now exhibited.
She also received a loan from the Museum of Jerusalem, which has eight
large rolls, the best preserved in the Shrine of the Book - a kind of
dome in darkness, recalling the atmosphere of the caves discovered from
1947 . That year, the Bedouin discovered, in what is still
Jordan, rolls of leather. Semi-nomadic, they have long known appetite
for the Western antiques. Praising their services to archaeologists,
they will both help and compete to find ten other caves. Researchers organize the excavation
while the Bedouins are organizing on their side, the receiving part of
the manuscripts. The young State of Israel in search of
national identity and consider themselves the sole trustee of the
Jewish heritage of antiquity, will lead an all-out hunt for almost
twenty years to repatriate and buy the rolls. In 1951, the discovery of
texts on a religious group - probably the Essenes, a stir among
Christians. We can make a parallel between
this Jewish movement (very pious, chaste, until the Messiah), and the
early Christians, seeing in these caves the ancestor of the
monasteries. Some biblical scholars even claim that American John the
Baptist was a member of the Qumran sect. In the 1950s,
millions of visitors who flocked to the exhibitions held in London or
Paris are more like pilgrims worshiping relics as tourists. Since then, secularization has
largely won the minds, at least in France. But the exhibition of
manuscripts, staged in a historical context, is worth a visit. If not
for religious reasons at least for aesthetic reasons: the staging of
Philip Maffre, tan and black, supported by huge pieces of Plexiglas
suspended from the ceiling, can feel a part of the excitement felt by
archaeologists, sixty years ago.
