An Astronomical Measuring Instrument From Qumran

Zodiac Calendars in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Their Reception

“…72 and where some parts of 1 overlap with the calendrical material in the Qumran Astronomical Book (4Q208-4Q211). 146 As illustrated in the questions raised above on whether there was more than one calendar in the Book of Jubilees there was often a general assumption in scholarship during the 1980s and 1990s that a 364-day calendar was 144 VanderKam, "A Twenty-eight-day Month Tradition," 506, n. 1: "Epstein's error was to assume that in [the] Jubilees' calendar the Omer-waving ceremony occurred on I/ 22. For him, since the Festival of Weeks, which Jubilees dates to iii/15, was celebrated 50 days after this event, months I and ii must have only 28 days each to accommodate these data.…”

“…72:31). 46 Olson,Enoch,[144][145][146][147]Nickelsburg and VanderKam,1 Enoch,97,98;Knibb,The Ethiopic Book of Enoch, Neugebauer,'Astronomical' Chapters,[6][7]12; Charles, "Book of Enoch," 238-239. 47 Neugebauer,"Notes,[50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61]Nickelsburg and VanderKam,1 Enoch,[96][97][98][99] Here the signs are factored in to correspond with the months in the order that they appear in the text.…”

“…If ancient scribes were familiar with the calendar of 4Q317, it is almost impossible not to automatically see Option 1 as the preferred reading. 144 Option 2: "On this night" ‫דן‬ ‫בליליא‬ alone opens the next clause (So, "On this night the sun completes . .…”

“…Therefore, the days in 4Q317 begin at moonset, not at sunset. 144 The age of 4Q317 is uncertain (95 per cent probability that the correct age range is 164-93 b.c.E. ), The punctuation favours accepting the consensus interpretative reading of Option 2: there is not a short a syntactical vacat after "it sets and goes out in this night" ‫דן‬ ‫בליליא‬ ‫ועל‬ ‫ערב‬ (unlike the similar, repeated formulaic phrase in Hebrew in 4Q317).…”

“…Its existence in Aramaic is evidence of the wide interest in variant zodiac calendars in the second century b.c.e., and later, in the region, that are culturally biased towards either the sun, or the moon. 144 Private communication. 145 Idem,"Understanding," 8 (preprint).…”