Dear Prof. Ian Young, Thanks for your reply. Your DSD 9 [2002] 364-90 article does indeed show close MT relations in certain Masada texts, though these texts, as I see matters, be few and, by you, quite questionably selected and quite questionably dated.
If I read your reply correctly, you imply that some of my sentences were poorly written. If that is what you meant, I am certainly willing to concede that some of my sentences could have been better written. But, I suggest another factor was at work. My post assumed familiarity with the literature of Qumran archaeology, paleography, and radiocarbon. I would have thought that, for your article that makes radical redating claims for both Masada texts and for Qumran texts, you would have closely aquainted yourself with this literature. I suggest that making radical redating assertions obligates one to take that literature seriously. Perhaps I can clarify another point that I may not have written as clearly and explicity as I might have done. I am saying that there is a direct relationship between denial of Essenes at Qumran and some highly counterfactual Qumran history reconstructions. Examples of this type, I suggest, include some writings of N. Golb, G. Doudna, A.D. Crown, Y. Hirschfeld, L. Cansfield, "I. Hutchesson" (aka John J."Jay" Hayes [not to be confused with a real scholar, John H. Hayes], Ann L. Kramer etc.). Admittedly, allowing Essenes a place in history does not, by itself, guarantee plausible history reconstructions. Examples of unacceptable Essene histories include, in my view, some writings of B. Thiering, R. Eisenman, the author of _Wichtige historische Enthullungen uber die wirkliche Todesart Jesu_, and many others. Stephen Goranson P.S. Below is a link to the original review by Atkinson, which, in my view, makes still-valid observations, as do the other three reviews that I cited: all four reviews caution against, amonst other things, dating claims they all found doubtful, as did, for example, several archaeologists attending the Brown Univ. Qumran archaeology conference: https://listhost.uchicago.edu/pipermail/ane/2003-March/007970.html _______________________________________________ g-Megillot mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mailman.McMaster.CA/mailman/listinfo/g-megillot
