Ten Commandments fragment displayed in Toronto at the ROM
for 80 hours only from Saturday, October 10 to Sunday, October 18
The Royal Ontario Museum’s (ROM) Dead Sea Scrolls: Words that Changed the World exhibition is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century - the earliest record of biblical patriarchs and prophets known to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. From June 27, 2009 to January 3, 2010, 16 authentic Dead Sea Scrolls will be featured over two three-month rotations. On display in the Garfield Weston Exhibition Hall on Level B2 in the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, this exhibition is one of the most significant in the ROM’s history.
From Saturday, October 10 to Sunday, October 18 ONLY, the ROM will showcase a fragment of one of our oldest copies of the text of the Ten Commandments. These legal precepts have served, and continue to serve, as a meaningful moral code for different faiths. For many in the West, the Ten Commandments have shaped laws, institutions and ethical beliefs. Due to the fragile nature of this Scroll, and its sensitivity to light and humidity, the Ten Commandments Scroll will be publicly displayed at the ROM for a total of 80 hours during its week long appearance.
ROM Director & CEO William Thorsell comments, “The ROM is proud to host the Ten Commandments Scroll during the Museum’s engagement of Dead Sea Scrolls and we expect that our visitors will be awed by the powers of its 2,000 year old writing. It is a privilege to have this document in Toronto.”
BACKGROUND
The displayed Scroll contains the text of the Ten Commandments from Deuteronomy 5 and is the best preserved of all the Deuteronomy manuscripts discovered. A biblical scroll, it is written in Hebrew and dated to ca. 30 – 1 BCE. It was discovered in 1952 in Cave 4 near the site of Khirbet Qumran. Due to its small size and because the verses from Deuteronomy 8 appear in the Scroll before those from chapter 5, it is thought that this Scroll may have been used in prayer and is not a portion of the entire biblical book of Deuteronomy. The text of the Ten Commandments on the Scroll is longer than what is found in traditional Bibles, and quotes both biblical versions of the Sabbath commandment (Exodus 20:11 and Deuteronomy 5:15) instructing the Israelites to observe the Sabbath as a remembrance of their rescue from slavery in Egypt and of God’s rest on the seventh day of creation.
The well-preserved manuscript contains four complete and two partially damaged columns. The second through sixth columns are written on one long leather sheet with Column 1 sewn to the right of it. The leather’s surface is very thin and reddish-brown. Horizontal lines are visible on the long leather sheet with guiding dots visible on Column II. A number of spaces have been left blank by the scribe due to a number of imperfections in the parchment.
The Ten Commandments is included in general Museum admission. Visit www.rom.on.ca/scrolls for more details, including ticket prices and the Ten Commandments’ viewing hours during its ROM appearance.