The Great Isaiah Scroll lives up to its present-day name: with its over 7 meters, it preserves a complete text of one of the most extensive Hebrew Bible books. Leading experts in Dead Sea Scrolls studies take the reader on a tour from the Qumran settlement and the caves to the Scrolls and then focus on the Great Isaiah Scroll. They address the materiality of this scroll, such as the parchment and the ink, but also the jars. And they engage with the socio-historical context of the Scroll and its role in the reception of the Book of Isaiah. Several authors voice the history of finding the scroll.With contributions by George Brooke, Ruthanne Brooks, Claudia Colini, Sidnie White Crawford, Marta Feliciangeli, Marcello Fidanzio, Jorg Frey, Jutta Jorikanta, Jodi Magness, Noam Mizrahi, Dennis Mizzi, Hindy Najman, Grzegorz Nehring, Mladen Popovic, Ira Rabin, Rebekah Van Sant, Orit Shamir, Lawrence Schiffman, Naama Sukenik, Eibert Tigchelaar, and Emanuel Tov.
This anthology explores the fruitful encounters between deities and humans, drawing on a broad spectrum of research and discoveries ranging from ancient Levantine archaeology and iconography to history. It also includes studies from Assyriology and Egyptology as well as several contributions from Hebrew Bible studies, New Testament studies, Jewish studies as well as from dogmatic and practical theology. Taking Angelika Berlejungs 2021-article "Refreshed Cultic Kisses: Forms of Encounter Between Gods and Humans" as a starting point, this anthology deepens our understanding of how fruitful encounters between deities and humans have looked like in the past or may look like today.