{"id":1112,"date":"2009-12-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-12-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/wp-a_lawler\/?p=1112"},"modified":"2021-10-29T11:53:46","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T15:53:46","slug":"andrew-lawler-on-who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-december-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/andrew-lawler-on-who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-december-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Lawler on &#8220;Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?&#8221; (December 2009)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Desc_txt\">By Megan Gambino<\/p>\n<p class=\"Desc_txt\">Smithsonian.com, December 18, 2009<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Andrew Lawler has written for newsletters, newspapers and magazines about topics such as astronomy and zoology. He has been a Washington reporter covering Capitol Hill and the White House and a Boston correspondent for a science magazine writing about universities. Currently, he is freelancing from his home in the woods of Maine.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>What drew you to this story? Can you describe its genesis a bit?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It all began with a toilet. A Smithsonian editor asked me about the recent find of what one archaeologist claimed was a latrine at Qumran. Next thing I knew, I was bumping across the Judean hills in a jeep. But as with everything involving this site, there is no agreement on whether there was an indoor loo!<\/p>\n<p><strong>What was your favorite moment during your reporting?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Climbing around the rocks just above Qumran and tracing its little aqueduct, with the Dead Sea and the tourists far below, all was serenely quiet. It could have been two thousand years ago. I have a good job.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What was the most surprising thing you learned about Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Perfectly pleasant and reasonable scholars can quickly lose their heads over Qumran. There is so much animosity among researchers about the scrolls and the place where they were found. I find such deep-seated animosity rare in most other areas of archaeology.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What do you hope readers take away from this story?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Qumran is a mirror. How we interpret it tells us so much about who we are, what we believe and how we navigate the intersection of science and faith.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; By Megan Gambino Smithsonian.com, December 18, 2009 Andrew Lawler  [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1113,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-smithsonian-magazine"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Andrew Lawler on &quot;Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?&quot; (December 2009) &#8226; Andrew Lawler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&nbsp; By Megan Gambino Smithsonian.com, December 18, 2009 Andrew Lawler has written for newsletters, newspapers and magazines about topics such as\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Andrew Lawler on &quot;Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?&quot; (December 2009) &#8226; Andrew Lawler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; By Megan Gambino Smithsonian.com, December 18, 2009 Andrew Lawler has written for newsletters, newspapers and magazines about topics such as\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Andrew Lawler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AndrewLawlerAuthor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AndrewLawlerAuthor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-12-18T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-29T15:53:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"AndrewLawler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"AndrewLawler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smithsonianmag.com\\\/history\\\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/andrew-lawler-on-who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-december-2009\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"AndrewLawler\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cbc9a5140b6f2e4922d45f0726e70022\"},\"headline\":\"Andrew Lawler on &#8220;Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?&#8221; (December 2009)\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-12-18T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-29T15:53:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/andrew-lawler-on-who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-december-2009\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":280,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cbc9a5140b6f2e4922d45f0726e70022\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smithsonianmag.com\\\/history\\\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Smithsonian Magazine\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/andrew-lawler-on-who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-december-2009\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smithsonianmag.com\\\/history\\\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\\\/\",\"name\":\"Andrew Lawler on \\\"Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?\\\" (December 2009) &#8226; Andrew Lawler\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smithsonianmag.com\\\/history\\\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smithsonianmag.com\\\/history\\\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-12-18T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-29T15:53:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"&nbsp; By Megan Gambino Smithsonian.com, December 18, 2009 Andrew Lawler has written for newsletters, newspapers and magazines about topics such as\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smithsonianmag.com\\\/history\\\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smithsonianmag.com\\\/history\\\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smithsonianmag.com\\\/history\\\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smithsonianmag.com\\\/history\\\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Andrew Lawler on &#8220;Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?&#8221; (December 2009)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Andrew Lawler\",\"description\":\"Andrew Lawler is author of four books\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cbc9a5140b6f2e4922d45f0726e70022\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cbc9a5140b6f2e4922d45f0726e70022\",\"name\":\"AndrewLawler\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/ST-LawlerJacketPic-1x1.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/ST-LawlerJacketPic-1x1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/ST-LawlerJacketPic-1x1.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1920,\"caption\":\"AndrewLawler\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/ST-LawlerJacketPic-1x1.jpg\"},\"description\":\"Andrew Lawler is author of three books, Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World\u2019s Most Contested City, The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, a national bestseller, and Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?: The Epic Saga of the Bird that Powers Civilization. As a journalist, he has written more than a thousand newspaper and magazine articles from more than two dozen countries. His byline has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and many others. He is contributing writer for Science and contributing editor for Archaeology. Andrew\u2019s work has appeared several times in The Best of Science and Nature Writing.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/AndrewLawlerAuthor\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/andrew-lawler-9b5a064a\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/LawlerAndrew\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCsliIwdDC_wPYE01Se2zzAw\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Andrew Lawler on \"Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?\" (December 2009) &#8226; Andrew Lawler","description":"&nbsp; By Megan Gambino Smithsonian.com, December 18, 2009 Andrew Lawler has written for newsletters, newspapers and magazines about topics such as","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Andrew Lawler on \"Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?\" (December 2009) &#8226; Andrew Lawler","og_description":"&nbsp; By Megan Gambino Smithsonian.com, December 18, 2009 Andrew Lawler has written for newsletters, newspapers and magazines about topics such as","og_url":"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\/","og_site_name":"Andrew Lawler","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AndrewLawlerAuthor","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AndrewLawlerAuthor","article_published_time":"2009-12-18T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-10-29T15:53:46+00:00","author":"AndrewLawler","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"AndrewLawler","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/andrew-lawler-on-who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-december-2009\/"},"author":{"name":"AndrewLawler","@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/cbc9a5140b6f2e4922d45f0726e70022"},"headline":"Andrew Lawler on &#8220;Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?&#8221; (December 2009)","datePublished":"2009-12-18T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-29T15:53:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/andrew-lawler-on-who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-december-2009\/"},"wordCount":280,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/cbc9a5140b6f2e4922d45f0726e70022"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","articleSection":["Smithsonian Magazine"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/andrew-lawler-on-who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-december-2009\/","url":"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\/","name":"Andrew Lawler on \"Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?\" (December 2009) &#8226; Andrew Lawler","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2009-12-18T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-29T15:53:46+00:00","description":"&nbsp; By Megan Gambino Smithsonian.com, December 18, 2009 Andrew Lawler has written for newsletters, newspapers and magazines about topics such as","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/who-wrote-the-dead-sea-scrolls-11781900\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Andrew Lawler on &#8220;Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?&#8221; (December 2009)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/","name":"Andrew Lawler","description":"Andrew Lawler is author of four books","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/cbc9a5140b6f2e4922d45f0726e70022"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/cbc9a5140b6f2e4922d45f0726e70022","name":"AndrewLawler","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/ST-LawlerJacketPic-1x1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/ST-LawlerJacketPic-1x1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/ST-LawlerJacketPic-1x1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1920,"caption":"AndrewLawler"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/ST-LawlerJacketPic-1x1.jpg"},"description":"Andrew Lawler is author of three books, Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World\u2019s Most Contested City, The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, a national bestseller, and Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?: The Epic Saga of the Bird that Powers Civilization. As a journalist, he has written more than a thousand newspaper and magazine articles from more than two dozen countries. His byline has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and many others. He is contributing writer for Science and contributing editor for Archaeology. Andrew\u2019s work has appeared several times in The Best of Science and Nature Writing.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AndrewLawlerAuthor","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/andrew-lawler-9b5a064a\/","https:\/\/x.com\/LawlerAndrew","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCsliIwdDC_wPYE01Se2zzAw"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}