BEACHWOOD, OH.- One of the most well-preserved fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls ever discovered will be on view at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage beginning Aug. 1, 2006. This fragment will replace the portion of the Temple Scroll (Cols. 19-21) currently displayed in the Museum’s world premiere exhibition, Cradle of Christianity: Treasures from the Holy Land.

Cradle of Christianity: Treasures from the Holy Land features an extraordinary collection of Christian and Jewish biblical artifacts. The exhibition explores aspects of early Jewish life and the concurrent birth of Christianity by powerfully presenting artifacts drawn from The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, which houses the foremost collection of Biblical archeology in the world.

The new fragment is part of the Temple Scroll, one of the most historically important of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It contains four columns (Cols. 41-44) dealing with different topics related to architectural aspects of the ideal Temple, as well as ritual details.

According to Dr. Adolfo Roitman, international scholar and curator of the Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead Sea Scroll collection at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, “the tradition contained in the Temple Scroll permits us to understand the tradition brought in the Apocalypse of John in its original historical context.”

Roitman will be in Cleveland to oversee the transport and installation of the new fragment. While here, Roitman will present a special public program, “The Significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for Judaism and Christianity,” where he will detail the history of the Dead Sea Scrolls’ discovery and reflect upon their significance.