Temple Scroll
The Temple Scroll is one of the longest of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Among the discoveries at Qumran it is designated: 11QTemple Scrolla(11Q19[11QTa]). It describes a Jewish temple which has never been built along with extensive detailed regulations about sacrifices and temple practices. The document is written in the form of a revelation from God to Moses, thereby with the intended meaning that this is the more appropriate temple which was revealed to Moses, and that Moses' instructions were either forgotten or ignored when Solomon built the First Temple (Temple in Jerusalem). In other words, in the mind of the Scroll writer, "Solomon should actually have built the First Temple as it is described here in the Temple Scroll".
The Temple Scroll is written in Hebrew in the square Herodian script of the late Second Temple Period, and comprises 65 columns (19 pieces of leather) and is 9 metres in length. The outer part of the scroll sustained considerable damage over the many centuries with the consequence that Columns 2 to 14 have many missing words and phrases. From Column 15 onward the inner part of the scroll is better preserved.
Most of the text is a reworking of biblical material (mostly from Exodus chapter 34 to Deuteronomy chapter 23), though not in the same order as given in the bible, sometimes it combines different biblical texts to present a novel view and there are parts that are non biblical that are presented using biblical phraseology.
There is no scholarly consensus regarding the date, origin, author or authors, or its relationship to the Qumran community. Some scholars attribute the Temple Scroll to the isolated Qumran community, while others see no connection with the Qumran community; instead they see the work as a priestly (possible Zadokite) document that was hidden in a cave by Zealots during their flight from Jerusalem in 70 CE before the Roman destruction of the Temple.
Using X-rays, samples from the scroll showed that the fragments have a ratio of chlorine to bromine about three times higher than found in sea water, and researchers conclude that the parchment of the scroll may have been made using Dead Sea water.
The scroll describes a Temple compound arranged in three concentric square courts resembling the Israelites camp in the desert during their exodus from Egypt to the promised land. An idealized "four square" Temple plan is presented in the Temple Scroll. Johann Maier calculated that the scroll dimensions of the three inner courts are:
The sacrificial regulations of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy are blended and united into one cohesive unit for the ideal Temple. The dimensions of the Temple are much larger than the Solomonic First Temple, probably reflecting the significantly larger population whose needs must be met. This clearly means that the Scroll pre-dates the dramatic expansions of the Second Temple (sometimes referred to as Herod's Temple) which Herod the Great instituted to meet those same needs which had been generated by significant population growth.
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