John M. Allegro
John Marco Allegro | |
---|---|
![]() John Allegro | |
Born | |
Died | 17 February 1988 | (aged 65)
Known for | The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross,Dead Sea Scrollsstudies |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Archaeology |
John Marco Allegro(17 February 1923 – 17 February 1988) was an EnglisharchaeologistandDead Sea Scrollsscholar. He was a populariser of the Dead Sea Scrolls through his books and radio broadcasts. He was the editor of some of the most famous and controversial scrolls published, thepesharim.A number of Allegro's later books, includingThe Sacred Mushroom and the Cross,brought him both popular fame and notoriety, and also complicated his career.
Early life and training
[edit]Allegro was born in 1923, son of John Allegro and Mabel (neePerry).[3]Allegro went throughWallington County Grammar School[3]in 1939. He joined theRoyal Navy,serving duringWorld War Two.After the war he began training for theMethodistministry, but found that he was more interested in Hebrew and Greek, so he went to study at Manchester University with fees paid by government grant due to his military service.[4]Allegro received his Honours degree in Oriental Studies at theUniversity of Manchesterin 1951. This was followed in 1952 by amaster's degreeunder supervision ofH. H. Rowley.While engaged in further research in Hebrew dialects at Oxford underGodfrey Driverin 1953, Allegro was invited byGerald Lankester Hardingto join the team of scholars working on the Dead Sea Scrolls in Jerusalem, where he spent one year working on the scrolls. He became a lecturer in Comparative Semitic Philology in Manchester in 1954.[5][6][7]
The Copper Scroll
[edit]It was on Allegro's recommendation in 1955 that theCopper Scrollwas sent by the Jordanian government to Manchester University in order for it to be cut into sections, allowing the text to be read. He was present during the cutting process in 1956 and later made a preliminary transcription of the text, which he soon translated, sending copies of his work back to Gerald Lankester Harding in Jordan.[8][9]Although Allegro had been first to translate the Copper Scroll, the text was assigned for editing toJ.T. MilikbyRoland de Vaux,the editor in chief of the scrolls.[10]While he was in England he made a series of radio broadcasts onBBCRadio aimed at popularising the scrolls, in which he announced that the leader discussed in the scrolls may have been crucified.[5]He posited that theTeacher of Righteousnesshad been martyred and crucified byAlexander Jannaeus,and that his followers believed he would reappear at theEnd timeasMessiah,based onQumrandocumentCommentary on Nahum1.4–9[11](a position that he re-iterated in 1986).[12]His colleagues in Jerusalem immediately responded with a letter to the Times on 16 March 1956 refuting his claim.[5]The letter concluded,
It is our conviction that either he [Allegro] has misread the texts or he has built up a chain of conjectures which the materials do not support.[13]
One result of this letter seemed to be that his appointment at Manchester was not to be renewed.[14]However, in July after several uneasy months the appointment was renewed.[15]
Allegro was asked a number of times by the Jordanian Director of Antiquities if he would publish the text of the Copper Scroll.[16]After a few years of waiting for Milik's publication of the scroll, Allegro succumbed and set about publishing the text.[17]His book,The Treasure of the Copper Scroll,was released in 1960, while the official publication had to wait another two years. Although several of his readings in the text are acknowledged, Allegro's book was disparaged by his colleagues.[9]He believed that the treasure in the scroll was real—a view now held by most scholars[9]—and led an expedition to attempt to find items mentioned in the scroll, though without success.
During this period Allegro also published two popular books on the Dead Sea scrolls,The Dead Sea Scrolls(1956) andThe People of the Dead Sea Scrolls(1958). He was keen to photograph the site of Qumran and various texts, providing an important source of information for posterity.[17]
Publishing the Pesharim
[edit]Allegro was entrusted with the publication of 4Q158–4Q186, a collection of fragments which mainly contained exemplars of a unique kind of commentary on biblical works known aspesharim.He believed that it was necessary to get these works out as quickly as possible[18]and published several preliminary editions in learned journals during the late 1950s. He told de Vaux that he could have his share of the texts ready in 1960, but due to hold ups had to wait until 1968 for his volume,Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan V: 4Q158–4Q186,to be published.[19]He reworked his material in 1966 with the assistance of a Manchester colleague, Arnold Anderson, before publication.[17]He stated in the volume that
- "it has been my practice to offer no more than the basic essentials of photographs, transliteration, translation of non-biblical passages where this might serve some useful interpretative purpose, and the minimum of textual notes."[20]
John Strugnellpublished a severe critique of the volume, "Notes en Marge du volume V des 'Discoveries in the Judean Desert of Jordan'" inRevue de Qumran.Allegro's minimalist approach has received widespread scorn in the scholarly world, which nevertheless had the opportunity to analyse the Allegro texts for decades while waiting for other editors to publish their allotments. The first part of Strugnell's allotment was published in 1994.[21]
Change of direction
[edit]As early as 1956 Allegro held controversial views regarding the content of the scrolls, stating in a letter to de Vaux, "It's a pity that you and your friends cannot conceive of anything written about Christianity without trying to grind some ecclesiastical or non-ecclesiastical axe." The bulk of his work on the Dead Sea Scrolls was done by 1960 and he was at odds with his scrolls colleagues. When a conflict broke out with H.H. Rowley concerning Allegro's interpretation of the scrolls,[22]Allegro, on the invitation ofF. F. Bruce,moved from the Department of Near East Studies in the Faculty of Arts at Manchester to the Faculty of Theology.[18]It was during his stay in Theology that he wrote his controversial book,The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross,whose subtitle was "A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East". Apparently realising the impact this book would have, Allegro resigned his post at Manchester.[18]
TheSacred MushroomandChristian Myth
[edit]Allegro's bookThe Sacred Mushroom and the Cross(1970) argued that Christianity began as ashamanisticcult. In his booksThe Sacred Mushroom and the CrossandThe Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth(1979), Allegro put forward the theory that stories of early Christianity originated in anEsseneclandestine cult centred around the use ofpsychedelicmushrooms, and that theNew Testamentis the coded record of this shamanistic cult.[23][24]Allegro further argued that the authors of the Christian gospels did not understand the Essene thought. When writing down the Gospels based on the stories they had heard, the evangelists confused the meaning of the scrolls. In this way, according to Allegro, the Christian tradition is based on a misunderstanding of the scrolls.[25][26]He also argued that the story of Jesus was based on the crucifixion of theTeacher of Righteousnessin the scrolls.[27]Mark Hall writes that Allegro suggested theDead Sea Scrollsall but proved that a historical Jesus never existed.[28]
Allegro argued that Jesus in theGospelswas in fact acodefor a type ofhallucinogen,theAmanita muscaria,and that Christianity was the product of an ancient "sex-and-mushroom" cult.[29][30]Critical reaction was swift and harsh: fourteen British scholars (including Allegro's mentor at Oxford, Godfrey Driver) denounced it.[29]Sidnie White Crawford wrote of the publication ofSacred Mushroom,"Rightly or wrongly, Allegro would never be taken seriously as a scholar again."[31]
Allegro's theory of a shamanistic cult as the origin of Christianity was criticised sharply by Welsh historianPhilip Jenkinswho wrote that Allegro was an eccentric scholar who relied on texts that did not exist in quite the form he was citing them. Jenkins called theSacred Mushroom and the Cross"possibly the single most ludicrous book on Jesus scholarship by a qualified academic".[32]Based on the reactions to the book, Allegro's publisher later apologized for issuing the book and Allegro was forced to resign his academic post.[25][30]A 2006 article by Michael Hoffman discussing Allegro's work called for his theories to be re-evaluated by the mainstream.[33]In November 2009The Sacred Mushroom and the Crosswas reprinted in a 40th anniversary edition with a 30-page addendum byCarl RuckofBoston University.[34]
Personal life and death
[edit]Allegro married Joan Lawrence in 1948, by whom he had a son and a daughter.[3]In 1982, he was living inBallasallaon theIsle of Man[3]before returning to live in England. In 1988, he died of aheart attackon his 65th birthday at his home inSandbach, Cheshire.[2][35]His obituarist in theDaily Telegraph,Hugh Massingberd,described him as "theLiberaceof Biblical scholarship ".[36]
Works
[edit]Among Allegro's works are the following:
- J.M. Allegro (1956).The Dead Sea Scrolls.Harmondsworth: Pelican.
- J.M. Allegro (1958).The People of the Dead Sea Scrolls.Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co.
- J.M. Allegro (1960).The Treasure of the Copper Scroll.Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co.
- J.M. Allegro (1964).Search in the Desert.Garden City NY: Doubleday & Co.
- J.M. Allegro (1965).The Shapira Affair.Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co.
- J.M. Allegro (1968).Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan V: 4Q158–4Q186.Oxford.
- J.M. Allegro (1970).The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross.London: Hodder and Stoughton Ltd.
- J.M. Allegro (1970).The End of a Road.London: Macgibbon and Kee.
- J.M. Allegro (1971).The Chosen People.London: Hodder and Stoughton Ltd.
- J.M. Allegro (1977).Lost Gods (Dutch "Verdwenen goden" ).Baarn, NL: H. Meulenhoff.ISBN9022402525.
- J.M. Allegro (1979).The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth.Devon: Westbridge Books.ISBN0879752416.
- J.M. Allegro (1982).All Manner of Men.Springfield, IL: Charles Thomas.
- J.M. Allegro (1985).Physician, Heal Thyself.Amherst, United States: Prometheus Books.ISBN9780879753054.
His scholarly journal articles include:
- J.M. Allegro (1956). "Further Messianic References in Qumran Literature".Journal of Biblical Literature.75(3): 174–187.doi:10.2307/3261919.JSTOR3261919.
- J.M. Allegro (1956). "More Unpublished Pieces of a Qumran Commentary on Nahum [4Q pNah]".Journal of Biblical Literature.75:304–308.
- J.M. Allegro (1958). "More Isaiah Commentaries from Qumran's Fourth Cave".Journal of Biblical Literature.77(3): 215–221.doi:10.2307/3264101.JSTOR3264101.
- J.M. Allegro (1958). "Fragments of a Qumran Scroll of EschatologicalMidrashim".Journal of Biblical Literature.77(4): 350–354.doi:10.2307/3264674.JSTOR3264674.
- J.M. Allegro (1962). "Further Light on the History of the Qumran Sect".Journal of Semitic Studies.7:304–308.doi:10.1093/jss/7.2.304.
An undated play 'The Lively Oracles' (with Roy Plomley).
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Weston W. Fields (2009).The Dead Sea Scrolls, A Full History.Vol. 1. Leiden: Brill. p. 211.ISBN978-9004175815.
- ^abJan Irvin; Andrew Rutajit (2009).Astrotheology and Shamanism.Gnostic Media Research & Publishing. p. 196.ISBN978-1439222423.
- ^abcdMosley, Charles, ed. (1982).Debrett's Handbook 1982, Distinguished People in British Life.Debrett's Peerage Limited. p. 30.ISBN0-905649-38-9.
- ^Weston W. Fields (2009).The Dead Sea Scrolls, A Full History.Vol. 1. Leiden: Brill. pp. 212–213.ISBN978-9004175815.
- ^abcPhilip R. Davies, "John Allegro and the Copper Scroll" inGeorge J. Brooke; Philip R. Davies, eds. (2002).Copper Scroll Studies.Sheffield Academic Press. pp. 26–27.ISBN0826460550.
- ^From the back cover,J.M. Allegro (1956).The Dead Sea Scrolls.Harmondsworth: Pelican.
- ^George J. Brooke, "Dead Sea Scrolls Scholarship in the United Kingdom", inDevorah Dimant, ed. (2012).The Dead Sea Scrolls in Scholarly Perspective: A History of Research.Leiden: Brill. pp. 453–454.ISBN978-9004208063.
- ^Judah K. Lefkovits, "The Copper Scroll (3Q15): A Reconsideration", inLawrence H. Schiffman; Shani Tzoref, eds. (2010).The Dead Sea Scrolls at 60.Leiden: Brill. p. 181.ISBN9789004185050.
- ^abcGeorge J. Brooke, "Dead Sea Scrolls Scholarship in the United Kingdom", inDevorah Dimant, ed. (2012).The Dead Sea Scrolls in Scholarly Perspective: A History of Research.Leiden: Brill. p. 457.ISBN978-9004208063.
- ^Norman Golb (1995).Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls.New York: Touchstone. p. 164.
- ^James VanderKam,Peter Flint,The Meaning of The Dead Sea Scrolls: Their Significance For Understanding The Bible, Judaism, Jesus and Christianity,pp. 323–324 (T & T Clark International, 2002).ISBN056708468X,also inTime,Volume 67, Issue 6 (6 February 1956), article entitled "Religion: Crucifixion Before Christ"[1]
- ^R. Joseph Hoffmann,Gerald A. Larue;Eds,Jesus in History and Myth(Prometheus Books, 1986)ISBN978-0879753320
- ^Philip R. Davies, "John Allegro and the Copper Scroll" inGeorge J. Brooke; Philip R. Davies, eds. (2002).Copper Scroll Studies.Sheffield Academic Press. p. 33.ISBN0826460550.
- ^This was Allegro's view, stated in a letter toJohn Strugnelldated 6 February 1957, cited inJudith Anne Brown (2005).John Marco Allegro: The Maverick Of The Dead Sea Scrolls.Grand Rapids:William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.p. 106.ISBN0802828493.
- ^Judith Anne Brown (2005).John Marco Allegro: The Maverick Of The Dead Sea Scrolls.Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans Publishing Co. p. 107.ISBN0802828493.
- ^John Marco Allegro (1960).The Treasure of the Copper Scroll.New York: Doubleday & Co. p. 6.
- ^abcPhilip R. Davies, "John Marco Allegro", inLawrence H. Schiffman; James C. VanderKam, eds. (2000).Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls.Vol. 1. Oxford. p. 18.ISBN0195137965.
- ^abcGeorge J. Brooke, "Dead Sea Scrolls Scholarship in the United Kingdom", inDevorah Dimant, ed. (2012).The Dead Sea Scrolls in Scholarly Perspective: A History of Research.Leiden: Brill. p. 458.ISBN978-9004208063.
- ^Judith Anne Brown (2005).John Marco Allegro: The Maverick Of The Dead Sea Scrolls.Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans Publishing Co. p. 152.ISBN0802828493.
- ^Cited inJudith Anne Brown (2005).John Marco Allegro: The Maverick Of The Dead Sea Scrolls.Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans Publishing Co. p. 155.ISBN0802828493.
- ^"Discoveries in the Judaean Desert: X".Orion Center.Retrieved15 April2013.
- ^Judith Anne Brown (2005).John Marco Allegro: The Maverick Of The Dead Sea Scrolls.Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans Publishing Co. p. 182.ISBN0802828493.
- ^John Allegro,The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross1970ISBN978-0-9825562-7-6
- ^John AllegroThe Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth1979ISBN978-0-879-75757-1
- ^abThe Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrollsby Peter Flint and James VanderKam (Jul 10, 2005)ISBN056708468XT&T Clark pp. 323-325
- ^The Essenes, the Scrolls, and the Dead Seaby Joan E. Taylor (Dec 14, 2012)ISBN019955448XOxford University Press p. 305
- ^Robert E. Van VoorstJesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient EvidenceEerdmans Publishing, 2000.ISBN0-8028-4368-9p. 77
- ^Hall, Mark. "Foreword," in Allegro, John M.The Dead Sea Scrolls & the Christian Myth.Prometheus 1992, first published 1979, p. ix.
- ^abThe Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrollsby Peter Flint and James VanderKam (10 July 2005)ISBN056708468XT&T Clark pp. 323–325
- ^abA History of the Middle EastbySaul S. Friedman(15 March 2006)ISBN0786423560page 82
- ^Sidnie White Crawford (2006). "Review of Judith Anne Brown,John Marco Allegro: The Maverick of the Dead Sea Scrolls".Catholic Biblical Quarterly.68(4): 725.
- ^Jenkins, Philip.Hidden Gospels.Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 180.
- ^Hoffman, Michael., ed. by Dr. Robert Price., "Wasson and Allegro on the Tree of Knowledge as Amanita" in Journal of Higher Criticism, 2006.Archived14 August 2007 at theWayback Machine
- ^The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, 40th anniversary edition by John M. Allegro, Gnostic Media, 2009.ISBN978-0-9825562-7-6
- ^Sidnie White Crawford (2006). "Review of Judith Anne Brown,John Marco Allegro: The Maverick of the Dead Sea Scrolls".Catholic Biblical Quarterly.68(4): 726.
- ^"Hugh Massingberd, 60, Laureate for the Departed, Dies",New York Times,30 December 2007
Further reading
[edit]- Judith Anne Brown:John Marco Allegro: The Maverick of the Dead Sea Scrolls.Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 2005.
External links
[edit]- The Official website of John Marco Allegro
- John Marco Allegro and the Christian Mythby Judith Anne Brown
- Obituary: Skeptic Tank Text Archive File
- John Marco Allegroentry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
- 1923 births
- 1988 deaths
- 20th-century philologists
- Writers from the London Borough of Wandsworth
- People educated at Wallington County Grammar School
- Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester
- Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester
- British Hebraists
- Dead Sea Scrolls
- English orientalists
- English philologists
- English people of Italian descent
- Royal Navy personnel of World War II
- 20th-century British archaeologists
- 20th-century English writers
- 20th-century English male writers
- People from Sandbach
- Translators from Hebrew