Demonology and the Dead Sea Scrolls

E19 - Demonology and the Dead Sea Scrolls

Published: June 18, 2026

Duration: 54:38

The period of the Second Temple was a time of cultural change for Jewish communities, including in how they regarded concepts such as magic and demons. But evidence for what that meant on the ground was limited until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1946, and the wealth of scholarship that followed. The picture painted is of a society looking to understand how the world, and the beliefs of other cultures around them, should be considered in relation to the Hebrew bible and beyond. Guest Tupá Guerra is a Brazilian historian specializing in demons on the Dead Sea S...