מכלול שרידי התפילין ממדבר יהודה: פרסום ראשוני של פרויקט מחקר חדש

Ancient tefillin remains, discovered together with the Dead Sea Scrolls in the middle of the 20th century, provided the first opportunity to examine evidence relating to the origins and early development of the tefillin ritual. Unfortunately, this vital corpus of tefillin finds has never merited comprehensive scientific analysis, and many of them remain unpublished, including several tefillin slips which have never even been unfolded and deciphered. Official publications of the tefillin texts which have been opened and deciphered rely on old readings of the minuscule texts carried out before the introduction of high resolution multispectral imaging. The paleographic character of the scripts on most of the published tefillin slips has never been comprehensively studied, and as a result, the chronology of the finds remains uncertain. Finally, no full scientific report has ever been published on the majority of the tefillin casings. In short, the corpus of Judean Desert tefillin remains is a treasure trove of vital information which remains largely untapped. The present essay presents a preliminary report on a new, in-progress research project whose goal is the comprehensive scientific analysis and publication of all the ancient tefillin remains found in the Judean Desert. The project uses state-of-the-art technologies to analyze both the inscribed tefillin slips and the casings made to house them, as well as the straps which attached these casings to the body of the tefillin practitioner. The seven specific objectives are to a) physically locate the remains; b) open the folded tefillin slips and thereby obtain new tefillin texts; c) generate new readings of previously published tefillin slips using new imaging technologies; d) prepare graphic reconstructions of the original slips; e) determine the dating of all tefillin manuscripts through paleographic analysis; f) document and characterize the tefillin casings and straps in terms of morphology; g) analyze the skins and stitching material in terms of animal origin and manufacturing processes. The present research project is significant in that it ventures far beyond the limited question of early tefillin practice and promises to serve as an important test-case for research into the development of early systems of Jewish ritual law in general.