John C. Trever
Encyclopedia
John C. Trever was a biblical scholar and archaeologist, who was involved in the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls
.
Trever received a degree (B.D.) from Yale Divinity School
and a Ph.D. in Old Testament studies from Yale Graduate School. He did post-doctoral studies in archaeology through the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem.
He became the first American scholar to see fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Spring of 1948. At the time Trever was filling in for Millar Burrows, the director at the American Schools of Oriental Research. He was contacted by a representative of Mar Samuel
of St. Mark's Assyrian Orthodox Monastery who desired to authenticate three scrolls that we now know had been purchased from Kando, a Syrian-Christian antiquities dealer in Bethlehem
. Trever, an experienced photographer, photographed the scrolls, 1QIsaiahA
, 1QpHabukkuk
, and 1QS
, and immediately sent copies to Near East scholar William F. Albright
, who recognized them as the "greatest MS discovery of modern times!” (Trever's photographs are now considered of historical importance and the negatives are housed at the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center, in Claremont, California.)
Trever is the author of "The Untold Story of Qumran" (1965) and "The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Personal Account" (2003). He taught at several colleges: Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio, Morris Harvey College in West Virginia (the University of Charleston), and Claremont School of Theology
in California.
The original negatives are in the collection of the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center of the Claremont School of Theology in California.
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Dead Sea scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
.
Trever received a degree (B.D.) from Yale Divinity School
Yale Divinity School
Yale Divinity School is a professional school at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. preparing students for ordained or lay ministry, or for the academy...
and a Ph.D. in Old Testament studies from Yale Graduate School. He did post-doctoral studies in archaeology through the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem.
He became the first American scholar to see fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Spring of 1948. At the time Trever was filling in for Millar Burrows, the director at the American Schools of Oriental Research. He was contacted by a representative of Mar Samuel
Mar Samuel
Metropolitan Athanasius Yeshue Samuel , more often referred to as Mar Samuel, was a Metropolitan and Archbishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, as well as a central figure in the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls....
of St. Mark's Assyrian Orthodox Monastery who desired to authenticate three scrolls that we now know had been purchased from Kando, a Syrian-Christian antiquities dealer in Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
. Trever, an experienced photographer, photographed the scrolls, 1QIsaiahA
Isaiah scroll
The Isaiah Scroll or 1Qlsa was found in a cave near the Dead Sea with six other scrolls by Bedouin shepherds in 1947, later known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is the most complete scroll out of the 220 found, being complete from beginning to end...
, 1QpHabukkuk
Habakkuk Commentary
The Habakkuk Commentary or Pesher Habakkuk, labelled 1QpHab was among the original seven Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947 and published in 1951...
, and 1QS
Community Rule
The Community Rule , which was previously referred to as the Manual of Discipline and in Hebrew Serekh ha-Yahad is one of the first scrolls to be discovered near khirbet Qumran, the scrolls found in the eleven caves between 1947 and 1954 are now referred to simply as the Dead Sea Scrolls...
, and immediately sent copies to Near East scholar William F. Albright
William F. Albright
William Foxwell Albright was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist and expert on ceramics. From the early twentieth century until his death, he was the dean of biblical archaeologists and the universally acknowledged founder of the Biblical archaeology movement...
, who recognized them as the "greatest MS discovery of modern times!” (Trever's photographs are now considered of historical importance and the negatives are housed at the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center, in Claremont, California.)
Trever is the author of "The Untold Story of Qumran" (1965) and "The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Personal Account" (2003). He taught at several colleges: Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio, Morris Harvey College in West Virginia (the University of Charleston), and Claremont School of Theology
Claremont School of Theology
Claremont School of Theology is a graduate school located in Claremont, California, offering Master of Art, Masters of Divinity, Doctorate of Ministry and Ph.D...
in California.
The original negatives are in the collection of the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center of the Claremont School of Theology in California.
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