University of Groningen continues collaboration on Dead Sea Scrolls research

The University of Groningen will continue its collaboration with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) on research into the Dead Sea Scrolls. The project has a clear scientific purpose, requires direct access to manuscripts held by the IAA and contributes to publicly available knowledge. This collaboration does not constitute endorsement of government policy or recognition of territorial sovereignty or ownership claims.

Questions raised within the University community about this partnership concern institutional responsibility, cultural heritage and the relationship between research and its political context. These questions deserve a substantive response. The University’s position and the considerations underlying it are set out below.

Scientific purpose and access to the manuscripts

The research advances knowledge of the Dead Sea Scrolls through the study of their texts and material characteristics. These ancient Jewish manuscripts are of exceptional historical significance. They document religious, cultural and intellectual life more than two thousand years ago and contribute to knowledge that extends beyond any single institution, country or contemporary political position.

Published editions and digital images support many forms of scholarship. They cannot, however, replace physical access to the manuscripts for the material analyses undertaken in this project. That access requires cooperation with the institution that holds and conserves the objects.

The IAA has custody of the majority of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Withdrawing from this collaboration would prevent an essential part of the research. It would not transfer the manuscripts to another custodian or resolve competing claims to them.

Historical context

The discoveries referred to in our earlier statement took place in successive phases between the winter of 1946/1947 and 1965, at Qumran and other sites in the Judean Desert. The first manuscripts were found by Taʿamireh Bedouin while the area was under the British Mandate. Further discoveries were made by Bedouin and archaeologists, including teams involving the Jordanian Department of Antiquities and the École biblique et archéologique Française. These later finds came from sites in the West Bank, then under Jordanian occupation, and from sites within Israel’s internationally recognised borders. The history of discovery and custody therefore spans different territories and administrations.

The manuscripts document ancient Jewish religious, cultural and intellectual life from more than two thousand years ago. Studying that history is a legitimate scholarly undertaking in its own right. The Dead Sea Scrolls offer a unique insight into Jewish religious life, textual traditions and practices during the Second Temple period. Studying their texts and material characteristics helps us understand how these manuscripts were produced, transmitted and used within the Jewish communities of that time.

Custody and ownership

Cooperation with the present custodian is distinct from recognition of ownership. Legal scholarship identifies competing Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian claims and has argued that the applicable international legal frameworks do not provide a definitive answer as to which claim prevails.

The University’s collaboration concerns access, conservation and scientific analysis. It neither settles questions of provenance and ownership nor dismisses the rights and claims of others. The research establishes no position on territorial sovereignty or any exclusive contemporary claim to this heritage.

The findings will be published openly and made available to researchers internationally. They will remain available irrespective of how ownership questions may eventually be resolved.

Academic freedom and institutional responsibility

Scientific purpose, research independence, access to sources, the partner’s involvement and the implications of a partnership are all relevant considerations in academic collaboration. Academic freedom and institutional responsibility must be exercised together.

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) emphasises that academic freedom includes the freedom to choose research questions, collaborate with researchers at home and abroad, and share findings.

Academic partnerships remain subject to ethical scrutiny. At the same time, contemporary political positions must not prescribe the questions researchers may ask about the ancient world or the conclusions they may reach.

Scientific work can be used in political narratives, including in ways researchers do not support. Statements by political officeholders do not determine this project’s purpose, methods or conclusions. The University’s position rests on independent scholarship and the open publication of findings. On this basis, the University will continue the project.