The Notre Dame Club of Arkansas and University of Arkansas at Little Rock Middle Eastern Studies will host “The Amazing Dead Sea Scrolls: What They Are & What They Mean” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall.

The talk will be presented by Dr. James VanderKam, a professor at Notre Dame since 1991 who has researched the Dead Sea Scrolls for two decades. VanderKam wrote “The Dead Sea Scrolls Today” and co-authored “The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls.”

The contents of these scrolls, their importance for biblical studies, and the headline controversies they have generated, are the subjects of the presentation.

VanderKam has edited 13 volumes of scrolls in the official series “Discoveries in the Judean Desert” and is the editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Members of the Notre Dame Club of Arkansas and UALR Middle Eastern Studies describe the scrolls as the greatest archaeological discovery of the 20th century.

The scrolls provide a first-hand look at a Jewish group that existed at the time of Jesus that in some ways resembled early Christians in beliefs and practices.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Joshua Thomsen at jcthomsen@ualr.edu.