About the editors: quoting from p. 140 of the book, "Ayala Sussman is director of publications, Israel Antiquities Authority, and co-curator of Scrolls from the Dead Sea. Ruth Peled is chief curator, Israel Antiquities Authority, and co-curator of Scrolls from the Dead Sea." About the book, quoting from p. 23 of the work, "Ancient Hebrew scrolls accidentally discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin boy have kindled popular enthusiasm as well as serious scholarly interest over the past half century. The source of the excitement is what these Dead Sea Scrolls reveal about the history of the Second Temple period (520 B.C.E. [Before the Common Era, an alternate designation for B.C.]-70 C.E.[Common Era, an alternate designation for A.D.]) particularly from the second century B.C.E. until the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E.--a time of crucial developments in the crystallization of the monotheistic religions." This is a beautiful book with more than fifty full-color photographs and it is well indexed.