SWBTS adds to its Dead Sea Scrolls collection

FORT WORTH, Texas — Less than a year after acquiring three fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) in Fort Worth, Texas, has added three more biblical fragments, making it the largest collection at an institution of higher education in the United States. The new fragments were obtained from a private collector in Europe through a gift from an anonymous donor and friend of the seminary. “The acquisition constitutes another significant milestone in the development of our programs in biblical studies and archaeology,” said SWBTS President Paige Patterson. “We are especially grateful for the friends of Southwestern who have made these acquisitions, as well as three other fragments, possible.” The set of six fragments is one more than those owned by Azusa Pacific University near Los Angeles, which acquired five pieces in 2009. The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago also owns a fragment.