Toronto - Part 8 Royal Ontario Museum

I left the last 3 posts about Toronto for the end because I consider them the best parts of Toronto along with the cathedral and these are how I want to remember Toronto because frankly the other parts I didn't like.

When we decided to go to the national seminar and I found out it was in Toronto, this museum was #1 on my list of things to do. Why you ask? Because I am a geek and love museums? Kinda.....what I wanted to see were the Dead Sea Scrolls. I missed them when they were in Chicago and I really wanted to see them. Friends of mine who had seen them likened them to seeing the Pope when he visited Chicago or visiting Rome - a religious experience.

I wasn't disappointed. They were amazing. They are housed in the Royal Ontario Museum. The Royal Ontario Museum is among the world’s leading museums of natural history, and of world cultures. The Dead Sea Scrolls are located in the 2nd level of the basement. We spent over 2 hours in this exhibit alone. No photography was allowed and I strongly urge all who can, to go visit this exhibit.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are widely considered among the greatest archaeological finds of the past century. They include the earliest written sources for the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament), as well as other less well known writings. Many of the ideas and beliefs contained in this collection of ancient parchments have resonated through the centuries and remain influential today. Indeed, they reflect the foundations of important religions such as Judaism and Christianity and have influenced Islam.

Dating from around 250 Before Common Era (BCE) to 68 Common Era (CE), the Scrolls include some 207 biblical manuscripts representing nearly all of the books in the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament). Approximately 900 Scrolls were discovered; some almost entirely preserved and others in fragments. Together, they comprise one of the most important collections of writings ever discovered. The Scrolls are a collection of biblical writings, apocryphal manuscripts, prayers, biblical commentary and religious laws. Prior to the discovery of the Scrolls, the oldest known copies of biblical texts were written 1,000 years later.

For 2,000 years, caves overlooking the salt-laden waters of the Dead Sea in the Judean
Desert near the site of Khirbet Qumran hid one of the world’s greatest treasures. Until their
discovery sixty years ago, the Scrolls remained untouched by light and most elements.

Hidden from human eyes for millennia, the Scrolls were brought to light in 1947 in a fortuitous discovery by Bedouins said to have been searching for a stray goat. Mohammed Ed Dhib, the goat-herder, threw stones into a cave and proceeded to investigate upon hearing the sound of a breaking clay jar. While he surmised that these manuscripts appeared ancient and were possibly valuable, he did not know that he had stumbled upon some of the earliest biblical and religious writings to have ever been found. The Scrolls were discovered in a series of eleven caves between 1947 and 1956. The caves are situated in the Judean Desert, elevated from and to the northwest of the Dead Sea in an area known as Wadi Qumran. The caves are fairly close, and in some cases directly accessible from the site of Khirbet Qumran.

Of course we didn't just go to this exhibit. We also toured the Book of the Dead exhibit, the Bat Cave, the Dinosaurs, the Gems and Gold exhibit, and all of the World Cultures.

Here are a few pictures and yes the 1st 2 pictures were taken by my husband (shrunken head and the head of a dinosaur):