Material and Digital Reconstruction of Fragmentary Dead Sea Scrolls The Case of 4Q418a (Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah, 136)

This book presents an innovative and comprehensive method for reconstructing fragmentary scrolls in a digital environment. The method enables extracting maximum information from the fragments. It is exemplified on the scroll 4Q418a, a fragmentary copy of Instruction. Contents Acknowledgements Tables and Figures Introduction The Present Volume 1 The Stegemann Method Reconsidered Part 1 Methodology Chapter 1 Collecting the Materials 1 Tracing the Imaging History 2 Validating the Provenance of the Fragments Chapter 2 Margin of Error 1 Measurement Errors 2 Statistical Errors 3 Indirect Measurements Chapter 3 Image Manipulation 1 Enhancement and Manipulation 2 Digitally Repairing the Fragment Chapter 4 Scaling the Images Chapter 5 Removing the Background 1 Manual Removal of the Background Chapter 6 Finding Information on the Verso 1 Modern Stamps 2 The Title of the Composition 3 Opisthographs 4 Evidence for Additional Layers 5 Stitching Impressions 6 Mirror Writing Chapter 7 Finding Wads 1 Methods for Tracing Layers that are Still Attached 2 Methods for Identifying Fragments that Originated from Wads Chapter 8 Reading and Text Reconstruction 1 Marking Doubtful Letters 2 Letter Cloning 3 Reconstruction Based on Parallels Chapter 9 Recreating Single Columns Based on Fragments and Parallels 1 Width 2 Height 3 Margins Chapter 10 Font 1 Designing the Font 2 Margin of Error Appendix 1 Experiment for Validating the Use of a Custom-Made Font 1 Introduction 2 Materials: The Examined Scrolls 3 Method 4 Results 5 Discussion 5 Discussion Appendix 2 Automated Font Generation 1 Glyph Shape 2 Glyph Size 3 Vertical Glyph Position 4 Glyph Kerning 5 Word and Line Spacing Chapter 11 Damage Patterns 1 The Direction in which the Scroll was Rolled 2 Wads 3 Establishing the Order of Scattered Fragments Chapter12 Placing the Fragments on the Canvas Using the Stegemann Method 1 Columns and Margins in the Material Reconstruction Appendix 3 Margin of Error for Placing the Fragments on the Canvas Chapter 13 Using One Prepared Copy as a Skeleton for a Second Copy Appendix 4 Margin of Error for Chapter 13 Part 2 4Q418a (4QInstructione) Chapter 14 Introduction to the Material Study of Instruction (Musar LaMevin) 1 Copies, Editions, and Reconstructions of Instruction 2 Material Information on 4Q418a Chapter 15 Re-Edition of 4Q418a 1 Conventions of this Chapter 2 Wad A (frags. 1–8) 3 Wad B (frags. 9–12) 4 Wad C (frags. 13–14c) 5 Wad D (frags. 15–19) 6 Wad E 7 Single-Layered Fragments Chapter 16 Material and Digital Reconstruction of 4Q418a 1 The Reconstruction of 4Q418a: State of the Art 2 The Wads 3 Reconstruction of 4Q418a 4 Placing the Fragments on the Canvas Using the Stegemann Method 5 Excursus: Calculating the Error for the Distance of Each Fragment from the Anchor Fragments and from its Consecutive Fragment 6 Columns and Margins 7 Conclusion Chapter 17 Conclusion: Movement towards a Comprehensive Reconstruction of Instruction 1 The Length of the Introductory Section in 4Q416, 4Q417 2 The Layout of 4Q415 3 Extrapolation for Other Copies of Instruction Bibliography Index of Qumran Scrolls Index of Modern Authors Subject Index "Scholars working with ancient scrolls seek ways to extract maximum information from the multitude of fragments. Various methods were applied to that end on the Dead Sea Scrolls as well as on other ancient texts. The present book augments these methods to a full-scale protocol, while adapting them to a new computerized environment. Fundamental methodological issues are illuminated as part of the discussion, and the potential margin of error is provided on an empirical basis, as practiced in the sciences. The method is then exemplified with regard to the scroll 4Q418a, a copy of a wisdom composition from Qumran"-- Provided by publisher