This volume contains 15 of the papers read at the Fifth Meeting of the IOQS, celebrated in Groningen 27-28 July, 2004. The meeting focused on the identity formation of the group or groups represented in the Scrolls, explored issues of self-definition of Jewish groups in relation to, or in reaction towards other groups within Judaism ("sectarian" identity, inner-Jewish discourses and polemics), and inquired into the development of Jewish identity vis-a-vis other non-Jewish persons, groups or peoples as reflected in the Scrolls.

Offering new reconstructions and interpretations of physiognomic and astrological texts from Qumran in comparison with Babylonian and Greco-Roman texts, this book gives a fresh view of their sense, function, and status within both the Qumran community and Second Temple Judaism.