The Project

In the Qumran caves that yielded the Dead Sea Scrolls many jars, lids and other artefacts were discovered by local Bedouin and also in joint Jordanian, French and American excavations (1949-56). Some of these material artefacts were sent to collections worldwide very early on, either gifted or sold. Recently the École Biblique et Archéologique Française of Jerusalem and the ISCAB Lugano started a program for the final report on the Caves of the Qumran Area, dealing mainly with the materials kept in Jerusalem and Amman. The program is directed by Pere Jean-Baptiste Humbert (EBAF) and Marcello Fidanzio (ISCAB). The network for the Dispersed Qumran Caves Artefacts and Archival Sources hopes to  engage with this publication project, by facilitating the study of all the dispersed artefacts enabling more comprehensive new reports. This will provide more information about the Qumran cave artefacts, and contribute to reconstructing a material profile of each cave’s contents. Alongside the analysis of ceramic jars, lids, textiles, leathers and wooden remains, the network will additionally explore the written and photographic dossiers of archaeologists and visitors.

The Department of Theology and Religious Studies of King’s College London, together with the Istituto di Cultura e Archeologia delle Terre Bibliche of Faculty of Theology of Lugano and the University of Malta, received a Leverhulme Trust International Network Grant for the Study of these Dispersed Qumran Caves Artefacts and Archival Sources, obtained by Professor Joan Taylor (KCL’s Principal Investigator), together with Professor Marcello Fidanzio (ISCAB, Lugano) and Dr Dennis Mizzi (University of Malta).TRS Departmental Announceent

They were then very pleased to be able to employ Dr. Sandra Jacobs as Network Facilitator and Researcher, and, more recently, Isabella Bossolino, for making drawings of jars and lids in international collections. See further about the Network team here.

The Leverhulme funding for this project ended in 2020. However, the ongoing project of research continues under the direction of Joan Taylor. For enquiries or for offers of funding support, please contact her at joan.taylor@kcl.ac.uk.