FORTHCOMING TITLE, ETA NOVEMBER 2026
Unearthing the unfamiliar world behind the Bible
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a window into an unfamiliar ancient culture and a mirror that reflects our own strange world back to ourselves. The scrolls simultaneously challenge and confirm what we thought we knew about the Bible, both its worlds and its very words. Though the scrolls were first recovered in 1947, their story continues to unfurl.
In Lost Words and Forgotten Worlds: Rediscovering the Dead Sea Scrolls, Andrew B. Perrin reintroduces readers to the scrolls while correcting common misunderstandings and highlighting overlooked issues. Perrin’s tour spans the traditions of ancient Judaism and extends to the big business of modern antiquities trading—and the surprising number of forgeries on display in our museums. Along the way, he debunks popular myths and conspiracies.
- Preface: How to Read a Dead Sea Scroll
- Introduction: Tattered Scrolls and a Tissue Paper Time Machine
- First Impressions from Qumran Cave 1
- (Re)Discoveries in the Judean Desert: Fact, Fable, and Finding the Dead Sea Scrolls
- Eight-Figure Souvenirs? Modern Forgeries of Ancient Scripture
- Essene-ish: Classical and Qumran Sources on Ancient Jewish Identities and Movements
- Tour de Qumran: Death, Toilets, and Other Archaeological Highlights
- The Vitality of Ancient Scriptures and the Making of Modern Bibles
- The Orbits of Traditions: Patriarchs and Matriarchs Before the Bible
- The Aramaic Imagination: Extending Ancestral Traditions in Imperial Language
- Conspiracy and Opportunity at the Intersection of Qumran and Christian Origins
- Closing Thoughts from the Unfolding History of the Dead Sea Scrolls
352 pages
Lost Words and Forgotten Worlds: Rediscovering the Dead Sea Scrolls is in the following collections:
