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Masada VI (Israel Exploration Society, Jerusalem)

FAMILIAR HANDWRITING IN AN UNFAMILIAR PLACE. This Joshua Apocryphon on the latter part of the Biblical Book of Joshua was found at Masada but penned by the same scribe who wrote more than 50 manuscripts discovered at Qumran. The scribe is not the only indication that this text was likely penned at Qumran. The content shares linguistic and literary analogies with the Qumran text known as the “Psalms of Joshua” (4Q378, 4Q379). Joshua’s military conquests may have resonated particularly with the rebels at Masada during the First Jewish Revolt.