Qumran, unchecked parallelomania, and pseudonymity in academic publication : review article of Kenneth Silver, Alexandria and Qumran : back to the beginning (Archaeopress, Oxford, 2017)

Abstract

This monograph has a promising premise – which is to situate Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls within the socio-political and cultural milieu of the Graeco-Roman world – but a deeply flawed execution. Its many problems can be summed up into four main points: 1) methodological and interpretative shortcomings; 2) unchecked parallelomania; 3) factual errors; and 4) the use of pseudonymity in academic publication. In the following pages, I will explore each of these issues in some detail. But first, I start with a brief overview of Kenneth Silver’s main arguments and hypothesis.