William John Lyons is Reader in Religion and History in the Department of History, University of Bristol, UK Jonathan G. Campbell is Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Early Judaism at the University of Bristol. Lloyd Keith Pietersen received his Ph.D. from the Department of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield.

• The Qumran Sect in the Context of Second Temple Sectarianism; Joseph P. Blenkinsopp, University of Notre Dame, USA; The Qumran Scrolls and the Demise of the Distinction Between Higher and Lower Criticism; George J. Brooke, University of Manchester, UK; 'Rewritten Bible' and 'Parabiblical Texts': A Terminological and Ideological Critique; Jonathan G. Campbell, University of Bristol, UK; Sects from Texts: On the Problems of Doing a Sociology of the Qumran Literature; Philip R. Davies, University of Sheffield, UK; 'Men of Perfect Holiness' (1QS 7:20): Social Scientific Thoughts on Group Identity, Asceticism and Ethical Development in the Rule of the Community; Louise J. Lawrence, University of Glasgow, UK; Another Look at the Lands of Damascus: The Spaces of the Damascus Document in the Light of Edward W. Soja's Thirdspace Approach; Liv Ingeborg Lied, University of Bergen, Norway; 'An Unauthorised Version': The Temple Scroll in Narratological Perspective; William J. Lyons, University of Bristol, UK; The Language of Gates and Entering: On Sacred Space in the Temple Scroll; Jorunn Okland, University of Oslo, Norway and University of Sheffield, UK. 'False Teaching, Lying Tongues and Deceitful Lips (4Q 169 frgs 3-4 2.8): The Pesharim and the Sociology of Deviance; Lloyd K. Pietersen, University of Bristol, UK; Probing the Possibilities and Pitfalls of Post-Colonial Approaches to the Dead Sea Scrolls; Andy M. Reimer, Canadian Bible College, Canada and University of Sheffield, UK

'This exciting collection of essays explores the applicatoin of new methods to the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, with a special, but not exclusive, interest in social-scientific approaches...This is a seminal collection that I recommend highly for scholars and postgraduates working on the Dead Sea Scrolls and related ancient literature. James R. Davila