LONDON, England — The Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit, which has recently been shown in Los Angeles, Calif., arrived here to start a European tour which will run until mid-2005.
First stop was the visitors center at the London England Temple, where a VIP reception was held May 18. Guests included academics, historians, faith leaders and school principals, as well as the mayors of the two towns closest to the London temple. Media representatives also attended, including the BBC World Service News Department.
The reception was held in the historic Manor House, set on the temple grounds, and was jointly hosted by temple President Rowland Elvidge and President Richard Kinnersley of the England London South Mission. Exhibit directors, Wayne and Janet Chamberlain, guided the VIP guests through the exhibit.
From the London temple the exhibit is scheduled to visit Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow and then central London before moving to continental Europe in September.
The exhibit is jointly sponsored by the Church and the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) at BYU. First discovered in 1947 in caves along the northwestern rim of the Dead Sea near the ancient site of Qumran, the Dead Sea Scrolls are the fragmentary remains of more than 800 biblical and non-biblical works dating from about 300 B.C. to A.D. 60.