Thousands of years ago, Hebrew scribes sat in a close-quartered room, carefully copying every dot and title of what they believed was the very word of God.  This tedious practice was crucial in producing an identical story that would give faith to billions for years to come.

Now “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” according to the New Testament book of Hebrews.  But sometimes faith is seeing, seeing little pictures of the lives described in the Holy Scriptures as they take their place in history.

Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible: Ancient Artifacts, Timeless Treasures opened Jan. 22 at the Milwaukee Public Museum, 800 W. Wells St., to an overwhelming crowd of people waiting in clustered lines anxious to see one of the most famous portraits of history ever discovered. The scrolls date from the third century B.C. through the first and are simply remarkable to look upon, for the historian and the faithful alike.

These ancient manuscripts were unearthed between 1947 and 1956 in 11 caves near Khirbet Qumran, on the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea. The manuscripts fall into three major categories: biblical texts, other religious writing and sectarian documents.  These are the earliest evidence of the biblical text yet found.

Most of that text is exhibited in fragments of leather scrolls on display in dim, temperature-controlled cases, and are pieced together from around the world.  Rarely do you see grown men and women gasping and smiling in childlike wonder. The Hebrew letters penned by scribes some 2,000 years ago are, to many, the very words of God.  To others, they are a priceless window into the past.

The collection also features a number of reproductions of some of the more intact scrolls, the most impressive being the 23-foot long Great Isaiah Scroll, one of the earliest and most complete scrolls found. The copy is absolutely beautiful, laid out in all its glory, and so exact a replica that the back is actually marked so that handlers can tell the difference.

Other reproductions include Pesher Habakkuk, Rule of the Community and the copper scroll.  Many visitors wondered out loud why the originals were not a part of the exhibit.  Upon viewing the facsimiles, however, it is hard to imagine anyone wanting to part with such a magnificent piece of history.

Dotting the historical collection and paving the way to where the scroll fragments are kept are countless artifacts from various sites in Israel dating to the period when the scrolls were written.  Perhaps most impressive were coins that dated from the reigns of Herod and Pontius Pilate respectively, both notorious New Testament villains. Knowing that these coins were held by contemporaries of Christ affected many visitors, head pressed against the glass and mouths agape.

Wide open mouths could also be seen and gasps heard as people filed into a nook featuring several ossuaries, containers that once held the remains of the dead.  One in particular thought by many scholars to be the resting place of Alexander, the son of Simon of Cyrene, held a special interest to those familiar with the Biblical record. The Bible records Simon as the man called upon to help Christ carry the cross to Calgary.

Alexander is mentioned by name in the Gospel of Mark as Simon’s son. What was once a simple Bible story now stares visitors in the face.

Following the slew of fragments that represent a significant portion of Hebrew Scripture – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Daniel and more – were a collection of New Testament writings. An original codex of the Gospel of Matthew dating from 250-260 A.D. shared the air with many of the Apostle Paul’s writings dating from 175-225 A.D.  The entire exhibit is a transition.

That transition traces a path from ancient Israel, though these New Testament manuscripts and straight through until today.  From Hebrew scrolls to the Guttenberg Bible (1455 A.D.) and onto a Luther Bible from 1710, the Holy Scripture is on display and as it has been for millennia, people can’t seem to get enough.

People didn’t seem to get bored either, despite the breadth of the collection.  They began to piece together the pieces for themselves, whether through examining everyday objects, a to-scale model of Herod’s Jerusalem or by witnessing the glory contained within the scrolls themselves.  There were no stale yawns or rushing through, almost as if people were afraid they might miss something.

Museum exhibits come and go, but Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible is serious history. Running through June 6, a once-in-a-lifetime view of one of the most important archaeological finds ever makes for an event of Biblical proportions.

Photo courtesy of École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem