ArchaeoHeritage - More digging of Dead Sea on cards

Dr John Allegro, Professor of Semitic Languages at Manchester University, accompanied by five other British archaeologists, has arrived here to examine the Dead Sea scrolls discovered in 1952 at Qumran, and the papyrus scrolls which Dr Allegro discovered earlier this year in a cave near the Marzin, also on the Dead Sea. 

Caves at Wadi Qumran where the dead sea scrolls were found [Credit: unmuseum]

Dr Allegro said he would work out a plan for excavations in Qurman which would take at least five years. They might lead to more information about the history of the people who built Qumran and left behind the already discovered scrolls. 

He expected to begin his excavations next winter. They would cover Wadi an-Nair (The Valley of Fire) running along the eastern side of the Jerusalem wall extending to the Dead Sea area east of Bethlehem and Qumran itself. 

Dr Allegro expressed disappointment at the failure of various organisations to respond to an appeal for funds for excavation work. He said he would sponsor a plan to bring British students during vacations to Jordan to see his finds and get first-hand impressions. 

Dr Phillip Hammoud of the Princeton Theological Seminary has completed two months, the work excavating a Roman theatre in Petra, Southern Jordan. 

 Deccan Chronicle 


Source: The Archaeology News Network