Placed in caves almost 2000 years ago

and not discovered until 1947, the Dead

Sea Scrolls provide a unique insight into

Jewish and Christian origins. They have

held a fascination over academics,

religious leaders, and the lay public alike

for the last forty-five years. From 1952,

when a team of scholars was appointed

and Cave 4 at Qumran was discovered -

from which the materials in this book are

drawn - they have been under the control

of an ~lite and secretive clique.

However, in the autumn of 1991, this

monopoly was effectively broken when

the Huntington Library in California

announced it would allow public access

to its collection of Dead Sea Scrolls

photographs. This was soon followed by

the publication of a Facsimile Edition by

the Biblical Archaeology Society in

Washington D.C. Robert Eisenman was I

integrally involved in both events, and i

with Michael Wise had been working i

behind the scenes on the unpublished

photographs for some time.

Their discovery of a tiny Scroll fragment

of six lines referring to the execution of

or by a Messianic Leader plunged them

into a long-running debate. Scholars

previously controlling access to the

Scrolls had been pnblically contending

that there was nothing interesting in the

remaining unpublished Scrolls and

nothing throwing further light on

Christianity s rise in Palestine. The

conclusions of Professor Eisenman and

Professor Wise gainsay and challenge

these views. The present work is the result.