How many scribes wrote the scrolls, and can individual hands be identified?
Most likely: the library was written by many scribes, and machine features can distinguish hands even where the script…Ahead on the evidence, not yet confirmed. It needs two reviews to be accepted.
Where it stands
Three answers have been proposed. Many of the manuscripts were copied at Qumran itself by members of the community, in the room excavators… leads, with evidence 1 against: partly supported by its tests. Two are still possible.
Why it matters
Scribal identity bears on whether the library was copied in one place by a small group or gathered from many sources, and on how to read near-uniform hands such as the Great Isaiah Scroll[1].
Answers 3
History
- Anava et al.: the DNA results show some manuscripts were brought from elsewhere, which weighs against a single local…Against: Many of the manuscripts were copied at Qumran itself by members of the community, in the room excavators…
- Popović et al. puts forward: the library was written by many scribes, and machine features can distinguish hands even where the script…
- Magness puts forward: many of the manuscripts were copied at Qumran itself by members of the community, in the room excavators…
- Popović et al.: columns of 1QIsaa split into two clusters at the scroll's midpoint across several feature sets.For: The library was written by many scribes, and machine features can distinguish hands even where the script…
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