Special Programming

Throughout the run of The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition, the Science Museum hosted a variety of programming that gave visitors an opportunity to learn more about the science and art of ancient writing and experience what it might have been like to be an ancient scribe. Events included demonstrations as well as hands-on activities led by professional local artists from a variety of organizations involved in writing and the book arts.

Participating Organizations

The Saint John's Bible
Twenty-eight pages of The Saint John's Bible are currently on display in The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition. If you've had a chance to visit the exhibit, follow the continuing progress of this extraordinary project online.

Minnesota Center for the Book Arts (MCBA)
Minnesota Center for the Book Arts is an independent book arts center established in 1983 and currently located at Open Book in downtown Minneapolis. MCBA provides studio and exhibition space for artists working at letterpress printing, hand bookbinding, and papermaking and also hosts a variety of participatory programs for book lovers of all kinds.

Colleagues of Calligraphy
The Colleagues of Calligraphy is a Twin Cities non-profit organization established in 1976 that promotes the study and practice of calligraphy as a craft and an art form.

Academic Conference on the Dead Sea Scrolls

College students have been studying the Dead Sea Scrolls and using The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition at the Science Museum of Minnesota as a resource. Classics Professor Nanette Goldman of Macalester College and Community Adviser to the Science Museum has organized an academic conference to advance undergraduate and graduate research on the scrolls.

Students will share their research on a range of topics spanning archaeology, history or theology of the Dead Sea Scroll community and Qumran. A solicitation for academic papers was issued to Minnesota colleges for undergraduate and graduate research papers. Nine papers were selected for presentation at the conference. View abstracts of the papers here. (PDF | 175 KB)