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How Archaeology Rewrote the History of Tefillin

JL;DR SUMMARY Recent archaeological discoveries have shed light on the ancient practices of wearing tefillin, dating back to the Judean Desert period. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

RashiArchaeologyTefillinScientific ResearchRabbeinu TamQumranJudean DesertAncient PracticesRabbinic HalachaTorah Passages

Places mentioned

Qumran, Central District, Israel
"The first ancient tefillin were discovered by archaeologists in 1949, in the same cave near the ancient ruins of Qumran (close to the shore of the Dead Sea in the northern Judean Desert) where the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls had been found a year and a half prior."
Masada, Southern District, Israel
"(Contrary to urban legend, no tefillin have yet been found at Masada)."

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Cairo Item ID 73337
Cairo Source ID 13
Retrieved 2026-01-23 05:30:32 UTC
Curated 2026-01-23 08:31:13 UTC