The Dead Sea Scrolls

This BBC podcast episode of "In Our Time" features Melvyn Bragg and three guests—Sarah Pearce, Ian Carden, Charlotte Hempel, and George Brooke—discussing the Dead Sea Scrolls. The discussion covers the discovery of the scrolls, their range and content (including biblical texts, legal documents, and community rules), and their significance in understanding Judaism and the context from which Christianity emerged. The panel explores the Essenes, the role of the Temple in Jerusalem, the languages of the texts, and the relationship between Judaism and the wider world. They also discuss how modern techniques have advanced the study of the scrolls and how the scrolls have changed scholars' understanding of Jewish history, messianic apocalypse, and the diversity within Judaism during the Second Temple period.