DEAD SEA SCROLLS — ^TREVER 433 



skeptical of the whole matter of Hebrew paleography, and have criti- 

 cized particularly the method of drawing letter forms in charts for 

 comparison, on the grounds that the subjective element is too liable 

 to appear.^ It is true that, in drawing a certain form of a letter for 

 a particular purpose, there is a tendency to exaggerate the feature 

 which one is pointing out. Many published charts do show that this 

 criticism is not entirely unfounded. The writer set about, therefore, 

 to find a method of presenting paleographic charts to remove all 

 possibility of subjectivity. 



The process consists of producing a high-contrast photograph of the 

 original document through the use of a fine-grain, contrast pan- 

 chromatic film, or by use of infrared films, in the case of certain 

 types of manuscripts (pi. 7, fig. 1). 



From the high-contrast negative of the original, a print can be 

 produced which removes the background, leaving the writing very 

 clear (pi. 7, fig. 2) . A chart can then be prepared by cutting out the 

 individual letters and pasting them on a white card containing a scale 

 showing the original size (pi. 8, fig. 1). This card is then rephoto- 

 graphed with "contrast-process ortho" film, which allows enlargement 

 or reduction of the final chart on a photographic print which preserves 

 the exact forms of the letters, without any possible violation of forms 

 (pi. 8, fig. 2). Publication of the finished print therefore assures 

 absolute accuracy. 



This method, of course, has certain drawbacks, in view of the fact 

 that not all types of materials can be treated in this way. Inscrip- 

 tions on stone or clay must still be reproduced by tracings, and badly 

 defaced letters, or those on disintegrated leather, cannot be selected 

 for such a chart. Furthermore, the high contrast tends to obscure 

 any elements which might show the method by which the form of the 

 letter was achieved, but hand-drawn charts also have this latter handi- 

 cap. Furthermore, the process is expensive, unless the paleographer 

 does his own photographic work.^^ 



To return to the problem of dating the Dead Sea Scrolls by means 

 of paleography, however, we must admit that narrowing down the 

 limits of the history of Hebrew writing to the point where the Dead 

 Sea Scrolls could be fixed with considerable certainty, still leaves 

 much to be desired, especially in view of the absence of literary mate- 

 rials of the second century A. D. It is easier to fix the upper limit 

 of their age, since they could not possibly be as old as the third century 



" Dr. Solomon Birnbaum, without doubt the leading authority in Hebrew paleography, 

 effectively answers the critics la his The Qumran (Dead Sea) Scrolls and paleography, 

 Bull. Amer. Schools Orient. Res., Suppl. Stud. Nos. 13-14. 



19 Birnbaum, ibid., p. 50, claims such a process Is economically impossible. 



