Dead Sea Scrolls Trial, Brief Overview

Raphael Golb, son of a prominent Dead Sea Scrolls scholar, has been accused of writing emails and blogs under pseudonyms.

book by Raphael Golb's father

Scribner 1995

Raphael is said to have written these emails and blogs to expose the fraudulent conduct of scholars- who oppose his father's and colleagues' theories on the Dead Sea Scrolls by blocking them from representation at conferences and museum exhibits. 

site of Qumran, responsible for some of the
chief disputes between these scholars

Raphael is said to have used the actual name of Dr. Lawrence Schiffman, in order to expose the man for plagiarism of his father's ideas- by parodying an emotional "confession" in emails.

It became evident that there was a hoaxer  writing these email and blogs, and Raphael was the only suspect.

found hidden in jars

He was never approached and asked to stop, nor was his father approached. He was allowed to continue. Instead, they began quietly building their case for two years against Raphael.


About two years later, six armed policemen entered Raphael's home while he was sleeping- on what was demonstrated in court to be I believe a falsified warrant- dragged him out of bed and led out of his home, his hands behind him in handcuffs. This civil matter has been brought to criminal court as an "identity theft" case, a felony.

map shows site of caves
in which the Scrolls were discovered,
in relation to Jerusalem etc

Raphael's lawyers say however that he was not impersonating, he was using parody and satire; and that using pseudonyms is standard in online scholarly debate and protected by the First Amendment.


These are only the barest of details, as the case is highly complicated. An assortment of Dead Sea Scrolls scholars, police, etc have been testifying. 

caves in which the Scrolls were discovered

Under cross-examination some witnesses have been shown to be hiding one thing or another. In court, for example, Dr. Schiffman, after emphatically stating that he had never been accused of plagiarism, was asked to read aloud from an accusation of plagiarism that had been published in an Israeli scholarly journal.



Raphael's lawyers are David Breitbart (a murder-trial lawyer) and Ron Kuby.

Rikers Island State Penitentiary, NY

where Raphael Golb,
the son of an academic rival,
 could be sentenced to 4 years. . .

. . .for certain emails that he sent

perhaps hoping 

to "obtain a benefit"

or perhaps hoping to "annoy,"

by parodying a professor;

And email accounts he opened

-including many he never used;

And for a name he invented;

And for perhaps hoping

the professor might not get $650.

[But which the professor got.]

Here is the original AP newspaper article, which is not bad, except in that it assumes Raphael was "promoting" his father rather than simply defending him:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/2708436,dead-sea-scrolls-new-york-trial-091410.article

Dr. Lawrence Schiffman 

The District Attorney's office sought up to 4 years for Raphael Golb, upstate in Reikers Island State Penitentiary. And in fact after the sentencing, rather than let Raphael wait for the Appeals office to open in 2 hours, it was ruled that Raphael should be shackled immediately and sent upstate on the very next bus to Rikers Island State Penitentiary. I wonder what horrendous crimes they thought Raphael Golb might have committed in those 2 hours.

Here are four blogs that talk about the scrolls case from a view that understands the defense:

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/5064374-dead-sea-scrolls-case-plagiarism-and-gmail-impersonation

http://blog.simplejustice.us/2010/07/20/a-prosecution-2000-years-in-the-making.aspx

See entry for Sun Sept 12, especially look at the comments:

http://raphaelgolb.blogspot.com/

This one was written by a Baptist preacher:

http://raphaelgolbcase.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/bloggers-former-prosecutor-defend-dead-sea-scrolls-internet-writer/

I am an English teacher. All my information and interpretations come from what I witnessed at the trial and read online. I took notes at the trial as best I could, and have looked for as much online as I can; but I do not always understand the nuances in law, or scholarship. If you see errors, please drop me a line.