Your Donations Help!
As our dig is now a major excavation, it has dramatically increased the amount of funds that must be raised to support it. At present, our only source of support comes from friends who recognize the significance of our archaeological project to advancing our knowledge of the Bible and its ancient Jewish context.
If you wish to make a donation to help cover costs with this year's dig, you may send it to:
World of the Bible Ministries
P.O. Box 827
San Marcos, TX 78667
(please designate your gift for "Qumran")
All donations are tax deductible. You may also donate by credit card by calling our toll-free number, 1-866-604-7322, or by going to our donation page.
Above all, we appreciate your prayers as we prepare for another season!
By Randall Price
One of the exceptional privileges I have in my work is the opportunity to take what others refer to as “adventures.” To me, they are part of living in the world of the Bible, which requires me to meet and interact with some very interesting places and persons. In this light, I returned last week from Israel and Jordan with a few “adventures” to share with you who pray for and support our ministry of reaching the world with biblical truth.
One of the purposes of the purposes for my travel was to prepare for our May excavation at Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea and our June study tour throughout Israel and down to Mt. Sinai (in Egypt), but also to explore areas for further excavation in the Qumran region. In this regard were two areas located by a satellite survey and a cave discovered and partially excavated during 1993-1994 when Operation Scroll sought new scroll caves in the wake of land being turned over to the Palestinian Authority as part of the Declaration of Principles agreement with Israel.
The satellite sites turned out to be very promising – one within a ring of stones that appears to be an ancient grave and another high on a plateau in near several caves. The cave we surveyed contained a rich amount of pottery and still had 2,000 year-old sleeping mats wedged between the layers of dirt inside the cave. Even though part of this cave was excavated, it may still contain something interesting and is worthwhile digging in the near future (see photo inside cave).
While in Jerusalem I took a day to attend The Jerusalem Conference and heard many informative speakers including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (see photo). He affirmed what many of the speakers addressed in detail: the urgency to stop a nuclear Iran, the need to secure the City of Jerusalem as the sole Capital of the Jewish People, and the desire to come to a peaceful solution with the Palestinian Authority that does not threaten Israel’s security or compromise her legitimate claims within Judea and Samaria (the so-called “West Bank”) and the Golan Heights.
In Jerusalem I also had the rare privilege of meeting Mr. William Kando, the son of the Arab merchant Iskandil Kando who first purchased the Dead Sea Scrolls from Bedouin in 1947 and from whose home in Bethlehem Moshe Dayan expropriated the Temple Scroll at the close of the Six Day War in 1967. William now possesses the remains of one large scroll of Genesis (valued at $35 million) and numerous fragments of biblical and other texts. A number of these were recently sold by him (or his agents) to Azuza Pacific University, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. We had two very pleasant meetings and I will be bringing my June tour group to his Bethlehem shop to view one of the Dead Sea Scroll jars he has on exhibit and hear his story of his grandfather’s role in this exciting history. Kando does have more fragments for sale (see photo of me with William and a scroll fragment), however, the price is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and he is very insistent that the remaining fragments go to institutions that deal with the Bible so that they can be shared with Christian believers (Kando is a member of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem).
I was also invited to meet another figure in the world of archaeology, the 87 year-old Israeli billionaire Mr. Shlomo Moussaieff, who owns the world’s largest private collection of biblical artifacts and antiquities. He made his fortune selling precious jewelry to international royalty and high society, especially Saudis and Persian Gulf Arab States, and the average price of one of his necklaces is more than a million dollars. In 1948 Shlomo fought in the old city of Jerusalem and when the city fell into the hands of the Jordanian Legion, he was taken captive and was imprisoned for a year. Another interesting fact is that his daughter Dorrit is married to the current President of Iceland. He showed us a photo of he and his parents mounted on camels in front of the Great Pyramid, taken in 1924 when he was only two years of age. He said, with a smile, that his love of archaeology and antiquities began from that date!
He gave me a personal guided tour of the antiquities housed in his apartment in Herzaliya (the rest of his collection is in his London apartment) and of the stories connected with finding and purchasing these priceless items (see photo).
Among the many rooms filled with of hundreds of artifacts were inscriptions mentioning the Jerusalem Temple, Jesus, Abraham, the Queen of Sheba, and a number of the Assyrian and Babylonian monarchs mentioned in the Bible. He even showed me Urartian pottery vessels he bought from locals on Mt. Ararat and told me he also had relics they claimed came from Noah’s Ark! Mr. Moussaieff wants to have his biblical antiquities collection preserved in a museum for future generations. He wants this museum to be in Jerusalem and in a particular part of the city. Right now he is negotiating with building owners over a $27 million dollar property. It is hoped he will be successful in getting his museum, otherwise his collection may be divided and sold by his family after his death. His holdings are so important to the world of the Bible that it would be tragic if his dream could not be realized!
My journey to Jordan took me to meet a man who had written me concerning his recent discovery of an ancient copper scroll. From an online search he had found that I had written an article on the Copper Scroll that was part of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He contacted me about coming to Amman, Jordan to see what he had found and to help identify the writing on it as Hebrew. After examining the scroll and confirming that it indeed had Hebrew (or Aramaic) writing on it, I convinced him to take me to the place where he had uncovered it. The site turned out to be a complex of caves near the region of Jerash in northern Jordan. The pottery inside the cave where the scroll was found (see photo of me holding the copper scroll inside the cave) was of the Roman-period, dating this scroll to between the first-century B.C. and the first (or second) century A.D.
At present, I am looking for someone who will put up the money to buy this scroll from the man so I can turn it over to the Jordanian authorities where it can be properly opened and studied. The owner of the scroll would never do this, but would instead sell it on the antiquities market in London. Therefore, the only way it will be able to be available for biblical scholars to read and interpret is if I can get it to the right people who can protect and preserve it. If anyone reading this would be interested in helping make this possible, please give our office a call!
I am now back in Virginia teaching courses on the History of Anti-Semitism and Israelology at Liberty University and finishing work on the Handbook to Biblical Archaeology that will be soon published by Zondervan Publishers. Of course, I continue to prepare for our second (and last) season of expedition to Mt. Ararat this August and am presently assisting in fund-raising for this great venture. As we come closer to the time of departure I will fill you in on what we know and how we intend to complete our work on the mountain. In the meanwhile, please accept my sincere thanks for your prayers and for helping us at World of the Bible Ministries continue to serve the LORD and His people around the globe.
For those who did not receive or open our last email update with the title "What Jesus Didn't Do, a new message from Dr. Price" please read on...its very important.
We now have two new messages to offer from two different recent conferences. One is called " What Jesus Didn't Do...The Unfinished Mission of Messiah" and it was very well received by the people and many were looking forward to obtaining a copy. The other is " Searching for Noah's Ark, The 2009 Ark Search LLC Expedition" which reports the 2009 expedition results at the same conference where the 2008 expedition was presented and recorded (monthly support partners will receive both in appreciation). But before I say more...
As we all know, 2009 was a difficult year financially for many ministries, ours included. Some of our regular donors have experienced financial setbacks which has obviously effected us as a ministry. We believe all who have signed up for these emails are interested in seeing World of the Bible Ministries accomplish it's goal of " Bringing the World of the Bible to the Word of the Church".
When you look at the body of Dr. Price's scholarly and popular work in books such as The Stones Cry Out and Searching for the Original Bible, and in DVDs such as the Coming Last Days Temple, Understanding Prophecy, and Islam and Prophecy, and in actual continuing archaeological work at the Qumran Plateau and on Mt. Ararat you understand that this is a vital apologetic ministry and original resource to the Evangelical Church around the world.
We try to be the best financial stewards of those who support us, but the general economic slowdown has cut our support significantly. Quite frankly, we need more of you who have signed up to the mailing list to become regular donors or at least purchase one resource so that we may continue to be this original apologetic resource. If you become a WBM support partner (monthly giver) then in appreciation you will receive select new resources as they become available and an end of the year appreciation gift (usually from Israel). Either way, becoming a regular support partner or just making a resource purchase, we would really appreciate your support at this time to get past this economic slowdown. Many hands make for light work and this is true in giving to this ministry.
We also desire your prayers for Dr. Price and this ministry to continue to give God glory by the accurate defense and proclamation of the prophetic Word before a skeptical world.
Dr. Price has a very full list of things he is trying to accomplish to achieve this end. We get calls from people who frequently say they admire the depth of research seen in Dr. Price's books and teaching and know they can trust what he says to be as accurate as possible. This depth takes a great deal of effort and time so pray that Dr. Price can have that time to accomplish a "ready answer for the hope that is within us" for your use in defending the faith.
So, if all who receive this and are grateful for the work of Dr. Price would do one of three things right now (by just clicking on a link below) in addition to praying:
1) Become a regular support partner: go to www.worldofthebible.com/contact.htm and send us your address and we will send addressed envelopes for your convenience and the What Jesus Didn't and the 2009 Ark Expedition messages in appreciation. Or...
2) Make a one time donation of at least $40 and receive the two new teaching DVDs above in appreciation. Go to www.worldofthebible.com/donate.htm to do this. Or...
3. Make a resource purchase from the many useful resources in our online catalog. Go to www.worldofthebible.com/catalog.htm to do this. Details of the two new messages are there.
This immediate action by most on out e-list would help us greatly at this time.
Also, be sure to visit the website, www.worldofthebible.com, if just to read the latest interesting news articles concerning the Middle East and see other links to good prophetic teaching. Please note there is the link to a very good online video of Dr. Price speaking on Biblical Archaeology.
Please know we are ever grateful for your prayer and financial support of World of the Bible Ministries.
Ken Stanford
WBM