{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "reviewed": "2026-11-09",
  "biography": {
    "id": "qumran-4q208",
    "title": "Astronomical Enoch · 4Q208",
    "identifier": "4Q208 · 4Q Enastrᵃ · IAA plate 814",
    "catalogue_id": "qumran-4q208",
    "summary": "Follow this Aramaic astronomical witness through its identity, selected lunar-calendar passage, dating evidence and open edition questions.",
    "work": "Aramaic Astronomical Book associated with 1 Enoch’s luminary tradition; not a complete copy of Ethiopic chapters 72–82",
    "language": "Aramaic",
    "repository": "Israel Antiquities Authority · Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library",
    "people": [
      {
        "role": "Literary attribution and narrator",
        "name": "Enoch",
        "status": "Literary role; historical authorship not established",
        "basis": "The fuller Enoch tradition presents celestial instruction through Enoch. This does not identify the anonymous ancient author or the copyist of this fragment.",
        "source_ids": [
          "astro-charles"
        ]
      },
      {
        "role": "Author / compiler and scribe",
        "name": "Not identified in this review",
        "status": "Unassigned",
        "basis": "No named author or copyist is established by the selected fragment reading. A manuscript date belongs to this copy or its material.",
        "source_ids": [
          "astro-jacobus"
        ]
      },
      {
        "role": "Modern editors and interpreters",
        "name": "Henryk Drawnel; Eshbal Ratzon; Helen R. Jacobus",
        "status": "Distinct scholarly contributions",
        "basis": "The 2011 edition and competing 2017/2019 reconstructions are separate works. English excerpts here depend on an earlier edition.",
        "source_ids": [
          "astro-jacobus",
          "astro-ratzon2017",
          "astro-ratzon2019"
        ]
      }
    ],
    "communities": [
      {
        "name": "Qumran Cave 4",
        "relation": "Manuscript find-context designation",
        "status": "Witness designation located",
        "note": "The cave designation does not by itself identify a tribe, author, finder or exclusive owner-community.",
        "source_ids": [
          "astro-208"
        ]
      }
    ],
    "events": [
      {
        "id": "qumran-4q208-composition",
        "kind": "Composition",
        "label": "Composition of this Astronomical Book recension · not independently dated here",
        "start": null,
        "end": null,
        "precision": "Unassigned",
        "status": "Open",
        "method": "Distinguish work composition from surviving copy",
        "reason": "Neither a literary attribution to Enoch nor a date for another copy establishes this composition date.",
        "source_ids": [
          "astro-jacobus"
        ],
        "calendar": "Historical BCE/CE; no year zero",
        "reviewed": "2026-11-09"
      },
      {
        "id": "qumran-4q208-recovery",
        "kind": "Discovery",
        "label": "Cave 4 witness · exact recovery and acquisition trail still to trace",
        "start": null,
        "end": null,
        "precision": "Unassigned",
        "status": "Open",
        "method": "Item-specific recovery record needed",
        "reason": "A photograph date is not the discovery date. A regional find history does not identify an individual finder.",
        "source_ids": [
          "astro-208"
        ],
        "calendar": "Historical BCE/CE; no year zero",
        "reviewed": "2026-11-09"
      },
      {
        "id": "qumran-4q208-copy",
        "kind": "Copy",
        "label": "Copying interval · item-specific handwriting assessment still to reconcile",
        "start": null,
        "end": null,
        "precision": "Unassigned",
        "status": "Open",
        "method": "Palaeography requires a named comparison and assessment date",
        "reason": "No numeric interval is borrowed from 4Q201 or the other astronomical witness.",
        "source_ids": [
          "astro-ratzon2019"
        ],
        "calendar": "Historical BCE/CE; no year zero",
        "reviewed": "2026-11-09"
      },
      {
        "id": "qumran-4q208-material",
        "kind": "Material",
        "label": "4Q208 parchment · 186–92 BCE, reported 2σ interval in 1995",
        "start": -186,
        "end": -92,
        "precision": "Historical calibrated interval",
        "status": "Published historical result",
        "method": "Arizona AMS: DSS-13 / AA-13245, 2095 ± 20 BP; nine determinations. 1986 calibration references in the report.",
        "reason": "Table 2 also gives 1σ 166–102 BCE and historical palaeographic estimate about 200 BCE. No fresh calibration was performed. Material dating does not date the author, ink, calendar epoch or a Flood.",
        "source_ids": [
          "astro-jull"
        ],
        "calendar": "Historical BCE/CE; no year zero",
        "reviewed": "2026-11-09"
      },
      {
        "id": "qumran-4q208-sampling",
        "kind": "Sampling",
        "label": "DSS-13 sampling belongs to the 21–22 March 1994 batch",
        "start": 1994,
        "end": 1994,
        "precision": "Year; two-day batch specified",
        "status": "Reported sampling batch",
        "method": "Report p. 11 excludes DSS-50, 52 and 53 from this batch; DSS-13 is not among those exceptions.",
        "reason": "Exact within-batch sampling day and fragment-image concordance remain unconfirmed.",
        "source_ids": [
          "astro-jull"
        ],
        "calendar": "Historical BCE/CE; no year zero",
        "reviewed": "2026-11-09"
      },
      {
        "id": "qumran-4q208-labpublication",
        "kind": "Laboratory publication",
        "label": "Radiocarbon 37(1) report · 1995",
        "start": 1995,
        "end": 1995,
        "precision": "Publication year",
        "status": "Located",
        "method": "Journal issue date",
        "reason": "Cambridge’s 2016 online date is digital availability, not the original publication year.",
        "source_ids": [
          "astro-jull"
        ],
        "calendar": "Historical BCE/CE; no year zero",
        "reviewed": "2026-11-09"
      },
      {
        "id": "qumran-4q208-photo",
        "kind": "Photograph",
        "label": "IAA colour photograph · November 2013",
        "start": 2013,
        "end": 2013,
        "precision": "Year; month recorded in source",
        "status": "Located",
        "method": "Custodian photograph metadata",
        "reason": "This dates modern imaging, not the ancient writing.",
        "source_ids": [
          "astro-208"
        ],
        "calendar": "Historical BCE/CE; no year zero",
        "reviewed": "2026-11-09"
      },
      {
        "id": "qumran-4q208-edition",
        "kind": "Edition",
        "label": "Drawnel edition used by the selected later English excerpts · 2011",
        "start": 2011,
        "end": 2011,
        "precision": "Publication year",
        "status": "Bibliographic route",
        "method": "Jacobus cites and adapts the edition",
        "reason": "The complete 2011 edition was not obtained; the selected later excerpts were inspected.",
        "source_ids": [
          "astro-jacobus"
        ],
        "calendar": "Historical BCE/CE; no year zero",
        "reviewed": "2026-11-09"
      },
      {
        "id": "qumran-4q208-study",
        "kind": "Research",
        "label": "Jacobus calendar reconstruction and Ratzon comparison · 2019",
        "start": 2019,
        "end": 2019,
        "precision": "Publication year",
        "status": "Selected pages reviewed",
        "method": "Competing mathematical reconstructions",
        "reason": "A modern reconstruction fills gaps with an argument; it is not additional surviving ancient writing.",
        "source_ids": [
          "astro-jacobus",
          "astro-ratzon2019"
        ],
        "calendar": "Historical BCE/CE; no year zero",
        "reviewed": "2026-11-09"
      }
    ],
    "translations": [
      {
        "language": "English",
        "scope": "Selected edited excerpt; not whole-witness coverage",
        "passage": "Edition fragment 15; compare 4Q208 15 and 4Q209 16",
        "status": "English excerpt route located; photographic collation pending",
        "edition": "Jacobus 2019 accepted manuscript, PDF pp. 11–12; adapting Drawnel 2011, pp. 102–104 as cited there. Restored wording must remain marked. A textual parallel is not a physical join.",
        "source_ids": [
          "astro-jacobus"
        ],
        "coverage_url": "/resources/translation-coverage/enoch-giants-jubilees/#coverage-qumran-4q208"
      }
    ],
    "claims": [
      {
        "id": "qumran-4q208-identity",
        "text": "The IAA identifies the pictured witness as 4Q208.",
        "status": "Custodian identity located; edition-fragment mapping still open",
        "witnesses": [
          {
            "slot": 1,
            "status": "Supports",
            "note": "The plate record names the manuscript and its modern mounting plate.",
            "source_ids": [
              "astro-208"
            ],
            "independence_group": "iaa-astronomical-images"
          },
          {
            "slot": 2,
            "status": "Context",
            "note": "The article discusses this manuscript, but it does not independently establish every plate-to-edition fragment match.",
            "source_ids": [
              "astro-jacobus"
            ],
            "independence_group": "jacobus-calendar-reconstruction"
          },
          {
            "slot": 3,
            "status": "Pending",
            "note": "A further independent, claim-specific check is still needed. This slot is not a third confirmation.",
            "source_ids": [],
            "independence_group": ""
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "id": "qumran-4q208-dating",
        "text": "A 1995 laboratory report publishes a material measurement for 4Q208.",
        "status": "Historical result traced; updated calibration and sampling concordance remain open",
        "witnesses": [
          {
            "slot": 1,
            "status": "Supports",
            "note": "Table 2 identifies DSS-13 / AA-13245 and its reported calibrated ranges.",
            "source_ids": [
              "astro-jull"
            ],
            "independence_group": "jull1995-arizona"
          },
          {
            "slot": 2,
            "status": "Context",
            "note": "Photographs identify the witness; no exact sample cut was matched in this review.",
            "source_ids": [
              "astro-208"
            ],
            "independence_group": "iaa-astronomical-images"
          },
          {
            "slot": 3,
            "status": "Pending",
            "note": "A further independent, claim-specific check is still needed. This slot is not a third confirmation.",
            "source_ids": [],
            "independence_group": ""
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "gaps": [
      {
        "id": "qumran-4q208-image-map",
        "kind": "Fragment concordance",
        "priority": "High",
        "question": "Which plate image maps to edition fragment 15 and the selected lines?",
        "action": "Locate an explicit DJD / Drawnel concordance. Do not turn mounting-plate fragment numbers into edition numbers. Existing IAA correspondence is linked; no new request for these witnesses has been sent.",
        "case": "iaa-enoch-20261105"
      },
      {
        "id": "qumran-4q208-calendar-check",
        "kind": "Calendar reconstruction",
        "priority": "High",
        "question": "Which numerals survive, and which day or month assignments are restored?",
        "action": "Obtain the full competing editions; collate one damaged numeral and both possible lunar-month placements before choosing a reconstruction.",
        "case": "iaa-enoch-20261105"
      },
      {
        "id": "qumran-4q208-dating-check",
        "kind": "Dating and custody",
        "priority": "High",
        "question": "Can the 1995 sample be mapped to a photographed piece, and is an updated calibration published?",
        "action": "Trace the laboratory sample record and published calibration history; retain the 1995 result with its method label.",
        "case": "iaa-enoch-20261105"
      }
    ],
    "source_ids": [
      "astro-208",
      "astro-jull",
      "astro-jacobus",
      "astro-ratzon2017",
      "astro-ratzon2019",
      "astro-charles"
    ],
    "case": "iaa-enoch-20261105",
    "reviewed": "2026-11-09",
    "published": "2026-11-09"
  },
  "sources": {
    "astro-208": {
      "id": "astro-208",
      "title": "IAA · 4Q208, plate 814",
      "url": "https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/explore-the-archive/image/B-371434",
      "kind": "Custodian photograph record",
      "locator": "November 2013; plate 814",
      "scope": "Identification and mounting-plate fragments. Plate fragment numbers are not automatically edition numbers.",
      "independence_group": "iaa-astronomical-images",
      "checked": "2026-11-09"
    },
    "astro-jull": {
      "id": "astro-jull",
      "title": "Jull, Donahue, Broshi and Tov · radiocarbon report (1995)",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033822200014740",
      "kind": "Primary laboratory report",
      "locator": "Printed pp. 11–14 and 19; Table 2 p. 14",
      "scope": "4Q208 = DSS-13 / AA-13245, 2095 ± 20 BP, nine determinations; historical calibration 1σ 166–102 BCE, 2σ 186–92 BCE. These results concern material, not the ink or narrated epoch.",
      "independence_group": "jull1995-arizona",
      "checked": "2026-11-09"
    },
    "astro-jacobus": {
      "id": "astro-jacobus",
      "title": "Jacobus · Reconstructing the Calendar of 4Q208–4Q209 (2019)",
      "url": "https://pure.manchester.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/158031586/ReconstructingHJ4Q208_4Q209_2_.pdf",
      "kind": "Primary scholarly argument · accepted manuscript",
      "locator": "Selected PDF pp. 4–8, 10–12 and 22",
      "scope": "English excerpts adapt Drawnel 2011. Proposed one-year reconstruction is an argument, not consensus; selected passage readings remain partly restored.",
      "independence_group": "jacobus-calendar-reconstruction",
      "checked": "2026-11-09"
    },
    "astro-ratzon2017": {
      "id": "astro-ratzon2017",
      "title": "Ratzon · The First Jewish Astronomers (2017)",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1017/S0269889717000114",
      "kind": "Primary scholarly abstract",
      "locator": "Science in Context 30(2), 113–139",
      "scope": "Abstract consulted; full paper not obtained. Detailed three-year proposal is discussed through Jacobus’s response, with that dependency identified.",
      "independence_group": "ratzon-calendar-reconstruction",
      "checked": "2026-11-09"
    },
    "astro-ratzon2019": {
      "id": "astro-ratzon2019",
      "title": "Ratzon · 4Q208: A new reconstruction (2019)",
      "url": "https://cris.tau.ac.il/en/publications/4q208-a-new-reconstruction-and-its-implications-on-the-evolution-/",
      "kind": "Author-institution publication record and abstract",
      "locator": "Revue de Qumran 31(1), 51–110",
      "scope": "Abstract describes a new reconstruction, textual plurality and changing models; full article not obtained in this review.",
      "independence_group": "ratzon-calendar-reconstruction",
      "checked": "2026-11-09"
    },
    "astro-charles": {
      "id": "astro-charles",
      "title": "1 Enoch 72–82 · R. H. Charles English edition",
      "url": "https://www.ccel.org/c/charles/otpseudepig/enoch/ENOCH_3.HTM",
      "kind": "Primary translated literary text",
      "locator": "Chapters 72, 74–78 and 82",
      "scope": "Fuller Ethiopic Enoch tradition in an English edition. Names here are not thereby demonstrated on either selected Aramaic fragment.",
      "independence_group": "charles-ethiopic-enoch",
      "checked": "2026-11-09"
    }
  }
}