SCRIBAL PRACTICES AND APPROACHE S ... - Emanuel Tov

108 Chapter 4: Technical Aspects of Scroll Writing
6QDeut? (6Q20) 5.0+ — no evidence
(2) Initial handle sheet
A separate uninscribed handle sheet (protective sheet, page de garde) was often stitched before
the first inscribed sheet; it is unclear whether, in such cases, a handle sheet was also attached to
the last inscribed sheet. This was not the case in 1QIsa a , while for 1QS and 1QSa such evidence is
extant at both extremities. Remnants of an attached initial handle sheet have been preserved only
for 4QBarkhi Nafshi b (4Q435); in all other instances the evidence is indirect, indicated by stitch
holes at the right edge of the leather of the first inscribed sheet.
Similar beginning sheets were also known from the tradition of ancient Greek and Latin
manuscripts as a protocollon (prwtovkollon), which is the initial glued sheet of a scroll, whether
inscribed or not. Evidence for a beginning handle sheet has been preserved for the following texts,
all of which contain initial margins of a regular size, unlike those recorded in TABLES 23 and 24:
• 1QIsa a : initial margin of 1.3 cm preceded by a handle sheet (stitch holes). The handle sheet was seen
apparently by Metropolitan Samuel when it was still connected to the scroll (thus J. C. Trever in Burrows, The
Dead Sea Scrolls, I.xiii). Fragments of this handle sheet are preserved in the Schøyen collection in Oslo, Norway
(DJD XXXII, in preparation).
• 1QMyst (1Q27): initial margin of 1.4 cm preceded by a handle sheet (stitch holes); see photograph PAM
40.523 (not DJD I, pl. XXI, where the stitch holes were cropped off).
• 4QGen g : initial margin of 1.1–1.3 cm preceded by a handle sheet (stitch holes).
• 4QGen k : initial margin of 1.7–1.9 cm preceded by a handle sheet (stitch holes).
• 4QBarkhi Nafshi b (4Q435): initial margin of 0.8 cm preceded by a handle sheet, of which 1.2 cm has been
preserved. DJD XXIX, 287 and pl. XX.
• 4QWords of Michael ar (4Q529) 1: a minute initial margin of 0.2–0.5 cm preceded by a handle sheet (stitch
holes).
• 4QVisions of Amram a ar (4Q543): initial margin of 1.7 cm preceded by a handle sheet (stitch holes).
Note further:
• 4QGen h-title (4Q8c). A little fragment on the ‘recto’ bearing the title (tyçrb) of a manuscript, now detached
from that scroll, constituted, according to J. Davila, DJD XII, 63 a remnant of a handle sheet. This assumption is
suggested by the stitch holes on the left edge indicating the existence of a subsequent sheet, presumably the first
inscribed sheet of the book. See further below, § h2.
(3) Uninscribed area preceded by a handle sheet
In a combination of both systems, the first inscribed column was (probably rarely) preceded by a
large uninscribed area as well as by a handle sheet. The texts in this category are also mentioned in
group 1.
• 1QS: initial margin (ruled) of 2.8–3.0 cm preceded by a handle sheet (stitch holes). A section of this handle
sheet, with the title on the verso, has been preserved (1Q28).
• 1QSa: initial margin of 2.1 cm preceded by a handle sheet (stitch holes). See n. 147.
• 4QCommGen A (4Q252): initial margin of 2.6 cm, contrasted with an intercolumnar margin of 0.6 cm,
preceded by a handle sheet (stitch holes at the bottom).
• 4QInstr b (4Q416): initial margin of 3.2 cm preceded by a handle sheet (see stitch holes and minute remains of
the sheet).
• 1QM: initial margin of 7.1+ cm. According to Sukenik, Dead Sea Scrolls, 35 the scroll began with an
uninscribed handle sheet, now detached, of which 35.5 cm are preserved. However, this assumption is unlikely, as
the first sheet shows no evidence of stitch holes.
(4) No indication
In one case, the beginning of a scroll was not indicated by any external system.