Violence in the Dead Sea Scrolls in Scholarship and Popular Media

This chapter examines the diverse ways in which knowledge—both scholarship and public discourse—about the Dead Sea Scrolls is constructed. Violence is a ubiquitous feature in the Dead Sea Scrolls, though, as Jassen demonstrates, its presence is a carefully constructed literary feature by the sectarian authors. The chapter focuses on the interactive web of scholars, journalists, and related public figures who tried to make sense of the representation of violence in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Particular attention is paid to Edmund Wilson and John Allegro, two great popularizers of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scholarly and public conversations in which Allegro and Wilson participate offer a window into the settings and forms in which knowledge production and exchange transpires.