Qumran Hymnology and Piyyut: Contrast and Comparison

Poetical compositions found in manuscripts and scrolls from Qumran may have much in common with Hebrew liturgical poetry (Piyyut) from the first to the seventh centuries CE, the hymnology of the late antique and early medieval synagogue. In this contribution I should like to present a few observations pertaining to both Qumran poetry and the Piyyut of the so-called pre-classical and classical period (third-seventh centuries), firstly, on their relationship to biblical chant, specifically the Book of Psalms; secondly on their liturgical purposes and their position as official or unofficial parts of Jewish hymnography; and thirdly, on theological and aesthetic appreciation of these types of Jewish poetry by religious authority.