PROLOGUE

...A STEEP AND RUGGED ASCENT...

     The words: ..."a steep and rugged ascent"... are from Plato's Allegory of the Cave, which is found in chapter 7 of his book: "The Republic." This famous allegory begins by describing a group of people who are imprisoned in a cave. Their knowledge is limited to viewing shadows that have been projected onto the walls of the cave. As the allegory develops, this world of shadowy images is contrasted with that of real objects as seen in broad daylight. Plato illustrates this contrast by describing the experience of a man who learns the truth about the shadows on the cave walls. This man then leaves the cave by way of "a steep and rugged ascent" out of illusion and into enlightenment. Such an ascent represents a turning point in the allegory; as it emphasizes the effort required in abandoning illusion and in opening oneself to the fullness of truth.
     My drawing attention to Plato's Allegory of the Cave has little to do the fact that the Qumran scrolls were found in caves; although parts of the surrounding terrain can readily be described as "steep and rugged." The relevance of Plato's Allegory has to do with the effort required in identifying the contents of the Qumran caves and in understanding their significance. In the case of Qumran cave 7, the "steep and rugged ascent" has included some wrong turns. Some of the papyrus fragments were incorrectly identified; and this has led to a variety of dubious and premature conclusions. As scholars vigorously opposed each other about the identification and significance of these fragments; their efforts resembled more of a groping about than an ascent from the quandary that has become the legacy of cave 7. The abundance of books and articles on this subject has been the fruit of a widespread controversy that has even attracted public interest from time to time.
     One of these books was "The First New Testament" by David Estrada & William White, Jr.; which was published in 1978. I first learned of the controversy when I purchased a copy of this book in 1982. I did not give the matter serious attention until 1997; when I decided to use my computer to scan the text of the Bible in order to locate places in the Biblical text that corresponded to the letters on the papyrus fragments. I also intended to publish the results of my scans on a web site on the Internet. After analyzing the two fragments that comprise the set known as 7Q6, I published the results of my observations on my web site; which I launched in August of 1997. Consequently, I received an e-mail from someone who informed me that Emile Puech of the Ecole Biblique had written an article in a journal where he argues that fragment 7Q4 was part of the book of Enoch.
     Meanwhile, I also had a suspicion that fragments 7Q4 and 7Q8 were from the same scroll because both fragments had horizontal fibers that sloped slightly downward in the same direction. This suspicion of mine was the result of my carefully examining the photographs in Estrada & White in order to determine which Greek letters were actually on the papyrus fragments. After obtaining a copy of the Greek text of Enoch, I was able to locate all the letters on fragment 7Q8 in a position in the printed text very close to the location of the wording of fragment 7Q4 as described by Emile Puech. On the following day, September 16, I carefully made photocopies of these two fragments and superimposed them in such a manner that the papyrus fibers of both fragments were in perfect alignment. I was then able to do this with fragment 7Q12. All three fragments fit together in an ensemble like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and all the legible letters correctly corresponded to the printed text of chapter 103 of the book of Enoch.
     In order to get assistance in publishing the results of my discovery, I sought advice from five scholars who had been involved in the controversy. One of them, Emile Puech, immediately expressed an interest in the matter and he asked me to write an article for inclusion in the next issue of Revue de Qumran; which is a scholarly journal devoted to Qumran studies. He also wrote a companion article where he demonstrated that another three fragments should be added to the ensemble. These articles were then published in the December 1997 issue of Revue de Qumran and they became available in June of 1998. These articles, one in English and the other in French, are of a technical nature that is characteristic of scholarly publications. In order to make them more understandable, I have written this prologue; and I have also supplied a brief glossary.
     As regards acknowledgements I must give credit to G. Wilhelm Nebe; who was the first to propose that fragments 7Q4 and 7Q8 were part of the book of Enoch. I must also give thanks to Emile Puech and Florentino Garcia Martinez for their assistance and for their inviting me to publish my article in Revue de Qumran. This is an honor for which I will always be grateful.
     Most of all, I must give glory to God for His having granted me this opportunity, and for His leading me to take the steep and rugged ascent. It is my firm conviction that in due time the Gospel of Jesus Christ will be further corroborated by new discoveries of manuscripts, along with more archaeological evidence. Meanwhile, the steep and rugged ascent continues.

Ernest A. Muro, Jr.
July 8, 1998

Continue by reading the Synopsis of the identification.

To read my article in Revue de Qumran #70, click here.

Read companion article by Fr. Emile Puech in Revue de Qumran #70.

For the Glossary, click here.

Click here to return to index of "Fragments of Enoch from Qumran Cave 7".

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1-24-2000