A CALENDRICAL COMPENDIUM FROM QUMRAN: A FRESH LOOK AT THE RECONSTRUCTION OF 4QCALENDRICAL DOCUMENT/ MISHMAROT A (4Q320)*

4Q320 is a scroll composed of calendrical lists of the festivals and information related to lunar phenomena. The underlying calendar used in this scroll is the 364-day Qumran year, synchronized into longer periods of a triennial cycle that synchronizes the schematic lunar and solar calendars; the rotation of duties (mishmarot) at the temple, as outlined in 1 Chr 24; the jubilees cycles; and a long 294-year cycle composed of all the above. The author(s) of this scroll is (are), therefore, interested in embedding shorter calendrical periods into longer cycles of years. In the present article, we propose a new edition and commentary of 4Q320, including a material reconstruction of the manuscript that presents the fragments in an alternative order. By attending to material and textual factors, we propose an improved sequencing of the material, supplied with textual reconstructions where they are feasible. As reconstructed in this article, 4Q320 consists of five registers, each opening with an introduction. In particular, 4Q320 presents a summary of the number of otot in each jubilee throughout six jubilees spanning over 294 years; a specification of the length of each month in the 364-day calendar; a list of the priestly courses; a register of the festivals and the day of the week within a priestly course throughout a six-year cycle; and finally the dates of an unknown lunar phenomenon synchronized with the priestly courses probably throughout another six-year cycle. Some of our reconstructed registers differ from previous editions.