Summary of the impact

This case study concerns the reach and significance of the impact that the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls at the University of Manchester has had in three areas. The first concerns the impact on public imagination and the publishing industry, e.g., through (a) various media to influence the understanding of faith communities about the founding moments of Judaism and Christianity; and (b) the production of popular literature of international appeal. The second concerns the impact on public policy in the allocation of research and conservation funds in several countries. The third concerns international policy-making in heritage conservation.

Underpinning research

The impact is based on Dead Sea Scrolls research in Manchester since 1993 which is ongoing. Key researchers in the assessment period have been: Prof. P. Alexander FBA (1993-2010); Prof. G. Brooke (1993-date); Dr. I. Rabin (2005-2007); Dr. E. Pantos (2005-2007); Dr H. von Weissenberg (2006-2007); Dr A. Feldman (2008-2011).

Since the first discoveries in 1947 the University of Manchester has been in the forefront of Scrolls research. Since 1993 this has been led by Profs Philip Alexander FBA (retired 2010) and George Brooke (3.6), both members of the international team of principal editors (under the auspices of the Israel Antiquities Authority). Since 1994 Alexander has edited the Cave 4 versions of the Rule of the Community (3.1), a book on the Qumran mystical texts (3.2), and other studies. Brooke has edited the Commentaries on Genesis from Cave 4 (3.3), worked on the Scrolls and the New Testament, and developed various methodological interests. Several other scholars have undertaken related research at Manchester during the period, including recently Dr Ira Rabin (2005 working over a period of short visits with Dr E Pantos of the Daresbury Synchrotron; now continuing similar research in Berlin (3.4), Dr Hanne von Weissenberg (2006-2007), and Dr Ariel Feldman (ESRC Fellow 2008; Newton International Fellow 2009-2011). Overall, the underpinning research is based on ongoing textual work producing principal editions of ancient manuscripts and reflecting on these from a wide range of perspectives; in addition there has been ongoing scientific analysis of the Manchester Reed Collection of fragments.

Several international conferences on the Dead Sea Scrolls have been hosted in Manchester: e.g., in 1996 a research symposium involving archaeologists and textual scholars marked the fortieth anniversary of the opening of the Copper Scroll in Manchester in 1955-56 (3.5). To share research results with a wider public a major Exhibition on the Copper Scroll and related artefacts was held at the Manchester Museum: the Copper Scroll was borrowed from Jordan. Brooke has also built up in Manchester a series of key primary sources for research, e.g., the Allegro Qumran Photograph archive, widely used by publishers and museums (most recently the Drents Museum, Assen for its 2013 Scrolls Exhibition) is housed at the Manchester Museum.

Brooke was responsible for identifying and cataloguing the images. The John Rylands Library of Manchester now houses archival material such as the William H. Brownlee Archive and, since 1997, the Reed Collection of Dead Sea Scroll fragments (Manchester is the only UK institution to possess actual fragments of the Scrolls). The Reed fragments have formed the basis for several projects concerned with heritage conservation: scientists from the laboratories in Daresbury and in Berlin have worked in tandem with collagen experts from the University of Wales, Cardiff. Brooke has been the anchor for this leading research which has been widely showcased, e.g., at Tate Modern at the launch of the House of Lords Science and Technology Ninth Report on Science and Heritage by Baroness Sharp in November 2006.

References to the research

(AOR — Available on request)

Essay describing and evaluating much of the underpinning research at Manchester:

Details of the impact

The impact and benefit of the research on the scrolls at Manchester takes several forms; pathways to impact are sometimes indirect, sometimes direct. Three are noteworthy.

First, there is impact in terms of the influence on the public imagination and publishing industry. Alexander's and Brooke's contributions to television (e.g., in 2013 for World Media Rights on "John Allegro" for the Yesterday Channel) and radio and numerous popular speaking engagements in museums, synagogues, and churches show that their research is deemed (by those inviting them to speak) to be changing popular perceptions of the character of Judaism from which Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity derive. Brooke has given 29 public lectures in the 2008-2013 assessment period, both nationally and internationally, often on the Scrolls and the New Testament, one of his research specialisms; some talks have been recorded for general public access on legacy websites (5.1). Such changes in perception are encouraged, e.g., in the popular introduction co-authored by Brooke: The Complete World of the Dead Sea Scrolls (London: Thames & Hudson, 2002), which has been translated into Dutch, German, Hungarian, Japanese and Spanish, and sold widely (hardback 52,799 plus 7,954 paperback Book Club editions in Germany and the USA) (5.2). Allegro's photographs, catalogued by Brooke, are used extensively throughout the volume. As an indication of the reach and significance of the work, a quotation from it appeared on the wall at the entrance to the 2010 Scrolls exhibition at the Science Museum of Minnesota. The book has sold so well that it is now in a revised paperback edition (2011). Production/sales figures (Sept 2013) from Thames and Hudson for paperbacks since 2011: UK/Europe 2,123; North America 2,700; Foreign editions: 1,500 = 6,323. The book has thus generated substantial income for publisher and booksellers alike (5.3) and has become widely used on university and college syllabuses (5.4).

Second, the research group at Manchester is a point of reference for the national and international funding of research and other activities on the Scrolls. Though much of this impact concerns HEI, in three matters there has been engagement with bodies outside HEI. (a) Brooke has been a board member of the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation which is involved in raising and disbursing funds for activities involving the scrolls (5.5). (b) Brooke has written confidential reports for the funding of museum building projects and other activities, notably for a UK Foundation intending to support a multi-million pound museum project in Israel (2008). (c) As part of his role as advisor to the Nordic Network in Qumran Studies, Brooke has had advice accepted concerning the identification and publication of a private manuscript collection (the Schøyen Collection, Oslo) (5.6); a comprehensive catalogue is forthcoming in 2014.

Third, the research at Manchester and beyond has had a significant direct impact on heritage conservation and debates about how best to treat fragile artefacts (5.7). The reach and significance of the analysis of the Manchester fragments for impact on conservation have been taken forward notably by two groups in relation to debates about conservation and exhibiting policy. (1) With respect to parchment conservation (including the Domesday Book) the work on the collagen of the Manchester scrolls fragments was undertaken jointly with the Department of Ophthalmology of the University of Wales, Cardiff: the ongoing impact of this was referred to, e.g., by Prof Tim Wess on BBC 4, "Material World," April 2008. (2) The conservation implications of the chemical composition of the fragments have been taken forward especially by Dr Ira Rabin and Dr Oliver Hahn and their collaborators. Their ongoing observations on other Scrolls are compared with the relatively stable Manchester fragments to reveal rapid and accelerating deterioration in several cases (5.8). They have incorporated their finds into reports that have influenced policy changes (5.9) at the Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, on the conservation and exhibiting of the Dead Sea Scrolls with the overall aim of reducing stress on ancient artefacts and enhancing their material stability. `In the face of a growing body of research presented by Ira [Rabin] and conservation scientists, The Shrine was faced with the unavoidable decision to cease all IAA conservation treatment and loans abroad' Hasia Rimon (5.10). The Shrine no longer uses the facilities of the Israel Antiquities Authority. The 2012 policy decision, its research basis, and its implications were showcased to all interested parties at the three-day Green Symposium at the Israel Museum in April 2013.

Sources to corroborate the impact

All claims referenced in section 4.

(1) Impact on public imagination

5.1. Web evidence of impact for Jews, Christians and others:
http://members.bib-arch.org/videos (this US site is the most widely followed popular archaeology site for the general public who are interested in the significance of the Bible; a 2010 video interview with Brooke is offered as a free download for new members of the Biblical Archaeology Society) http://vimeo.com/27792887 (this is a 2011 lecture delivered by Brooke to a general audience, especially members of the Diocese of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia; feedback from those attending available from timothy.stanley@newcastle.edu.au)

5.2. Philip R. Davies, George J. Brooke, and Phillip R. Callaway, The Complete World of the Dead Sea Scrolls (London: Thames and Hudson, 2002), 216 pp. + 216 illustrations (84 in colour) (ISBN 0-500-05111-9); German edition: Qumran: Die Schriftrollen vom Toten Meer (trans. T. Bertram; Stuttgart: Theiss and Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2002) (ISBN 3-8062-1713-0); Spanish edition: Los Rollos del Mar Muerto y su mundo (trans. A. Guzmán Guerra; Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 2002) (ISBN 84-206-8630-1); Dutch edition: De Wereld de Dode Zeerollen (trans. A. van der Kooij; Abcoude: Fontaine Uitgevers, 2003) (ISBN 90-5956-019-1); Hungarian edition: A holt-tengeri tekercsek világa (trans. S. Róbert; Pécs: Alexandra Kiadója, 2003) (ISBN 963-368-483-8); Japanese edition: Shikai Bunsho Daihyakka (trans. Y. Ikeda; Tokyo: Toyo Shorin, 2003) (ISBN 4-88721-634-3). Reissued in a revised paperback form 2011 (UK/USA ISBN 978-0-500-28371-4).

5.3. Email evidence of audited sales figures available from Associate Editor, Thames and Hudson.

5.4.Web evidence of adoption of book on syllabuses:
http://www.tutorgig.info/ed/Dead_Sea_Scrolls (USA)
http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il/resources/bib/beginner.shtml (Israel)

(2) Funding and Other Activities

5.5. Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation activities: www.deadseascrollsfoundation.com

5.6. Schoyen Collection: www.schoyencollection.com/aram-heb-syr.html#1909

(3) Heritage conservation

5.7. The Manchester Fragments: George J. Brooke, I. Rabin, J. Hodgson, M. Pantos and J. Prag, "The Ronald Reed Archive at the John Rylands University Library" (with), e-Preservation Science 4 (2007): 9-12; George J. Brooke, "The Historical Documents at the John Rylands University Library: The Reed Dead Sea Scrolls Collection," e-Preservation Science 3 (2006): 35-40 (requested for publication by the Director of the National Library of Slovenia)

5.8. Ira Rabin and Oliver Hahn, "Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibitions around the World: Reasons for Concern," Restaurator 33 (2012): 101-21.

5.9. Evidence of impact on heritage conservation in email impact statement (September 2013) from Coordinator of international Dead Sea Scrolls Project and senior scientist at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Berlin, Germany.

5.10. Statement on impact on exhibiting and conservation policy of the Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum from the Conservator at the Shrine of the Book (September 2013).