John Marco Allegro
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John Marco Allegro (17 February 1923 – 17 February 1988) was an English
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
and
Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...
scholar. He was a populariser of the Dead Sea Scrolls through his books and radio broadcasts. He was the editor of some of the most famous and controversial scrolls published, the '' pesharim''. A number of Allegro's later books, including ''
The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross ''The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross: A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity Within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East'' is a 1970 book about the linguistics of early Christianity and fertility cults in the Ancient Near East. ...
'', brought him both popular fame and notoriety, and also complicated his career.


Early life and training

Allegro was born in 1923, son of John Allegro and Mabel (''nee'' Perry). Allegro went through
Wallington County Grammar School Wallington County Grammar School (WCGS) is a selective state boys' grammar school with a coeducational Sixth Form located in the London Borough of Sutton. From 1968 to the mid-1990s the school was known as Wallington High School for Boys. One o ...
in 1939. He joined the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
, serving during
World War Two World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. After the war he began training for the
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
ministry, but found that he was more interested in Hebrew and Greek, so he went to study at Manchester University with fees paid by government grant due to his military service. Allegro received his Honours degree in Oriental Studies at the
University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...
in 1951. This was followed in 1952 by a
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
under supervision of
H. H. Rowley Harold Henry Rowley (24 March 1890 – 4 October 1969) was an English Old Testament scholar from the Baptist tradition. Biography H. H. Rowley was born in Leicester on 24 March 1890 to Richard Rowley and Emma (née Saunt) Rowley. The family Bap ...
. While engaged in further research in Hebrew dialects at Oxford under
Godfrey Driver Sir Godfrey Rolles Driver (20 August 1892 – 22 April 1975), known as G. R. Driver, was an English Orientalist noted for his studies of Semitic languages and Assyriology.J. A. Emerton, 'Driver, Sir Godfrey Rolles (1892–1975)'. In ''Oxfor ...
in 1953, Allegro was invited by Gerald Lankester Harding to join the team of scholars working on the Dead Sea Scrolls in Jerusalem, where he spent one year working on the scrolls. He became a lecturer in Comparative Semitic Philology in Manchester in 1954.Philip R. Davies, "John Allegro and the Copper Scroll" in


The Copper Scroll

It was on Allegro's recommendation in 1955 that the
Copper Scroll The Copper Scroll ( 3Q15) is one of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in Cave 3 near Khirbet Qumran, but differs significantly from the others. Whereas the other scrolls are written on parchment or papyrus, this scroll is written on metal: copper mixed ...
was sent by the Jordanian government to Manchester University in order for it to be cut into sections, allowing the text to be read. He was present during the cutting process in 1956 and later made a preliminary transcription of the text, which he soon translated, sending copies of his work back to Gerald Lankester Harding in Jordan. Although Allegro had been first to translate the Copper Scroll, the text was assigned for editing to J.T. Milik by
Roland de Vaux Roland Guérin de Vaux (17 December 1903 – 10 September 1971) was a French Dominican priest who led the Catholic team that initially worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls. He was the director of the Ecole Biblique, a French Catholic Theological S ...
, the editor in chief of the scrolls. While he was in England he made a series of radio broadcasts on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Radio aimed at popularising the scrolls, in which he announced that the leader discussed in the scrolls may have been crucified. He posited that the
Teacher of Righteousness The Teacher of Righteousness (in Hebrew: מורה הצדק ''Moreh ha-Tzedek'') is a figure found in some of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran, most prominently in the Damascus Document. This document speaks briefly of the origins of the sect, proba ...
had been martyred and crucified by
Alexander Jannaeus Alexander Jannaeus ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξανδρος Ἰανναῖος ; he, ''Yannaʾy''; born Jonathan ) was the second king of the Hasmonean dynasty, who ruled over an expanding kingdom of Judea from 103 to 76 BCE. A son of John Hyrcanus, ...
, and that his followers believed he would reappear at the End time as
Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
, based on
Qumran Qumran ( he, קומראן; ar, خربة قمران ') is an archaeological site in the West Bank managed by Israel's Qumran National Park. It is located on a dry marl plateau about from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, near the Israeli ...
document Commentary on Nahum 1.4–9 (a position that he re-iterated in 1986). His colleagues in Jerusalem immediately responded with a letter to the Times on 16 March 1956 refuting his claim. The letter concluded, One result of this letter seemed to be that his appointment at Manchester was not to be renewed. However, in July after several uneasy months the appointment was renewed. Allegro was asked a number of times by the Jordanian Director of Antiquities if he would publish the text of the Copper Scroll. After a few years of waiting for Milik's publication of the scroll, Allegro succumbed and set about publishing the text.Philip R. Davies, "John Marco Allegro", in His book, ''The Treasure of the Copper Scroll'', was released in 1960, while the official publication had to wait another two years. Although several of his readings in the text are acknowledged, Allegro's book was disparaged by his colleagues.George J. Brooke, "Dead Sea Scrolls Scholarship in the United Kingdom", in He believed that the treasure in the scroll was real—a view now held by most scholars—and led an expedition to attempt to find items mentioned in the scroll, though without success. During this period Allegro also published two popular books on the Dead Sea scrolls, ''The Dead Sea Scrolls'' (1956) and ''The People of the Dead Sea Scrolls'' (1958). He was keen to photograph the site of Qumran and various texts, providing an important source of information for posterity.


Publishing the Pesharim

Allegro was entrusted with the publication of 4Q158–4Q186, a collection of fragments which mainly contained exemplars of a unique kind of commentary on biblical works known as '' pesharim''. He believed that it was necessary to get these works out as quickly as possibleGeorge J. Brooke, "Dead Sea Scrolls Scholarship in the United Kingdom", in and published several preliminary editions in learned journals during the late 1950s. He told de Vaux that he could have his share of the texts ready in 1960, but due to hold ups had to wait until 1968 for his volume, ''Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan V: 4Q158–4Q186'', to be published. He reworked his material in 1966 with the assistance of a Manchester colleague, Arnold Anderson, before publication. He stated in the volume that :"it has been my practice to offer no more than the basic essentials of photographs, transliteration, translation of non-biblical passages where this might serve some useful interpretative purpose, and the minimum of textual notes."
John Strugnell John Strugnell (May 25, 1930, Barnet, Hertfordshire, England – November 30, 2007, Boston, Massachusetts) became, at 23, the youngest member of the team of scholars led by Roland de Vaux, formed in 1954 to edit the Dead Sea Scrolls in Jeru ...
published a severe critique of the volume, "Notes en Marge du volume V des 'Discoveries in the Judean Desert of Jordan'" in ''Revue de Qumran''. Allegro's minimalist approach has received widespread scorn in the scholarly world, which nevertheless had the opportunity to analyse the Allegro texts for decades while waiting for other editors to publish their allotments. The first part of Strugnell's allotment was published in 1994.


Change of direction

As early as 1956 Allegro held controversial views regarding the content of the scrolls, stating in a letter to de Vaux, "It's a pity that you and your friends cannot conceive of anything written about Christianity without trying to grind some ecclesiastical or non-ecclesiastical axe." The bulk of his work on the Dead Sea Scrolls was done by 1960 and he was at odds with his scrolls colleagues. When a conflict broke out with H.H. Rowley concerning Allegro's interpretation of the scrolls, Allegro, on the invitation of
F. F. Bruce Frederick Fyvie Bruce (12 October 1910 – 11 September 1990), usually cited as F. F. Bruce, was a Scottish biblical scholar who supported the historical reliability of the New Testament. His first book, ''New Testament Documents: Are They ...
, moved from the Department of Near East Studies in the Faculty of Arts at Manchester to the Faculty of Theology. It was during his stay in Theology that he wrote his controversial book, ''
The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross ''The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross: A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity Within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East'' is a 1970 book about the linguistics of early Christianity and fertility cults in the Ancient Near East. ...
'', whose subtitle was "A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East". Apparently realising the impact this book would have, Allegro resigned his post at Manchester.


The ''Sacred Mushroom'' and ''Christian Myth''

Allegro's book ''
The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross ''The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross: A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity Within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East'' is a 1970 book about the linguistics of early Christianity and fertility cults in the Ancient Near East. ...
'' (1970) argued that Christianity began as a
shamanistic Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiri ...
cult. In his books ''The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross'' and ''
The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth ''The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian myth'' is a 1979 book about the Dead Sea Scrolls, Essenes and early Christianity that proposes the non-existence of Jesus Christ. It was written by John Marco Allegro (1922–1988). Content The book ...
'' (1979), Allegro put forward the theory that stories of early Christianity originated in an
Essene The Essenes (; Hebrew: , ''Isiyim''; Greek: Ἐσσηνοί, Ἐσσαῖοι, or Ὀσσαῖοι, ''Essenoi, Essaioi, Ossaioi'') were a mystic Jewish sect during the Second Temple period that flourished from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st ce ...
clandestine cult centred around the use of
psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science o ...
mushrooms, and that the ''New Testament'' is the coded record of this shamanistic cult. Allegro further argued that the authors of the Christian gospels did not understand the Essene thought. When writing down the Gospels based on the stories they had heard, the evangelists confused the meaning of the scrolls. In this way, according to Allegro, the Christian tradition is based on a misunderstanding of the scrolls.''The Essenes, the Scrolls, and the Dead Sea'' by Joan E. Taylor (Dec 14, 2012) Oxford University Press p. 305 He also argued that the story of Jesus was based on the crucifixion of the
Teacher of Righteousness The Teacher of Righteousness (in Hebrew: מורה הצדק ''Moreh ha-Tzedek'') is a figure found in some of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran, most prominently in the Damascus Document. This document speaks briefly of the origins of the sect, proba ...
in the scrolls. Mark Hall writes that Allegro suggested the
Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...
all but proved that a historical Jesus never existed. Allegro argued that Jesus in the ''
Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
'' was in fact a
code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communicati ...
for a type of
hallucinogen Hallucinogens are a large, diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorize ...
, the ''
Amanita muscaria ''Amanita muscaria'', commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete of the genus ''Amanita''. It is also a muscimol mushroom. Native throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, ''Amanita muscar ...
'', and that Christianity was the product of an ancient "sex-and-mushroom" cult.''The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls'' by Peter Flint and James VanderKam (10 July 2005) T&T Clark pp. 323–325''A History of the Middle East'' by Saul S. Friedman (15 March 2006) page 82 Critical reaction was swift and harsh: fourteen British scholars (including Allegro's mentor at Oxford, Godfrey Driver) denounced it. Sidnie White Crawford wrote of the publication of ''Sacred Mushroom'', "Rightly or wrongly, Allegro would never be taken seriously as a scholar again." Allegro's theory of a shamanistic cult as the origin of Christianity was criticised sharply by Welsh historian
Philip Jenkins Philip Jenkins (born April 3, 1952) is a professor of history at Baylor University in the United States, and co-director for Baylor's Program on Historical Studies of Religion in the Institute for Studies of Religion. He is also the Edwin Erle Sp ...
who wrote that Allegro was an eccentric scholar who relied on texts that did not exist in quite the form he was citing them. Jenkins called the ''Sacred Mushroom and the Cross'' "possibly the single most ludicrous book on Jesus scholarship by a qualified academic". Based on the reactions to the book, Allegro's publisher later apologized for issuing the book and Allegro was forced to resign his academic post.''The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls'' by Peter Flint and James VanderKam (Jul 10, 2005) T&T Clark pp. 323-325 A 2006 article by Michael Hoffman discussing Allegro's work called for his theories to be re-evaluated by the mainstream. In November 2009 ''The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross'' was reprinted in a 40th anniversary edition with a 30-page addendum by
Carl Ruck Carl A. P. Ruck (born December 8, 1935, Bridgeport, Connecticut), is a professor in the Classical Studies department at Boston University. He received his B.A. at Yale University, his M.A. at the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. at Harvard Uni ...
of
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...
.


Personal life and death

Allegro married Joan Lawrence in 1948, by whom he had a son and a daughter. In 1982, he was living in
Ballasalla Ballasalla () is a village in the parish of Malew in the south-east of the Isle of Man. The village is situated close to the Isle of Man Airport and north-east of the town of Castletown. History Ballasalla grew up around nearby Rushen Abbe ...
on the
Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...
before returning to live in England. In 1988, he died of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
on his 65th birthday at his home in Sandbach, Cheshire.


Works

Among Allegro's works are the following: * * * * * * * * * * * * * His scholarly journal articles include: * * * * * An undated play 'The Lively Oracles' (with Roy Plomley).


See also

*
Astrotheology Astrotheology, astral mysticism, astral religion, astral or stellar theology (also referred to as astral or star worship) is the worship of the stars (individually or together as the night sky), the planets, and other heavenly bodies as deities, ...


References


Further reading

* Judith Anne Brown: ''John Marco Allegro: The Maverick of the Dead Sea Scrolls.'' Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 2005.


External links


The Official website of John Marco Allegro

John Marco Allegro and the Christian Myth
by Judith Anne Brown



entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith {{DEFAULTSORT:Allegro, John 1923 births 1988 deaths Writers from London People educated at Wallington County Grammar School Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester British archaeologists British Hebraists Dead Sea Scrolls English orientalists English people of Italian descent Christ myth theory proponents Royal Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century archaeologists 20th-century English writers 20th-century English male writers People from Sandbach Translators from Hebrew