Juan Diego students view Dead Sea Scrolls at the Leonardo

Intermountain Catholic

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Juan Diego Catholic High School seniors view a trio of ancient jars during their field trip to The Leonardo to view the exhibit titled ?Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Ancient Times.? See more photos on the Intermountain Catholic facebook page. IC photo/Marie Mischel

SALT LAKE CITY — Jars, stones and papyrus fragments connected the past to the present for Juan Diego Catholic High School students as they attended the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition at The Leonardo during Catholic Schools Week, Jan. 27-31.

The exhibit highlights items from the Israel National Treasures Department, including the oldest known copies of the Hebrew Bible and scrolls that have never before been displayed publicly.

Being able to see the scrolls and how archeologists were able to piece the fragments together was "eerie, but not in a bad way, because we were able see the original works that we already know from the Bible, and were able to see them in the past," said JDCHS senior Chase Williams just after viewing the scrolls.

"It’s a reassurance that what we’re reading now has been passed down," agreed Ashley Marian Ramos, also a senior.

In addition to the scrolls, the exhibit includes artifacts such as limestone ossuaries and an ancient signature. Vanessa Sarrazin was interested in the large ancient storage jars that were designed with pointed, rather than flat, bases. Archeologists believe the jars were set in the ground so other jars could be stacked in the spaces between the jars forming the lower layer, resulting in a pyramid shape that would be more stable than if the jars were placed directly on top of each other.

"I think it’s intriguing to mold it that way and to think, ‘Oh, we can stick these in the ground, to be steady on top, instead of it being unstable,’" Sarrazin said.

For senior Grace McClelland, the highlight of the exhibit was the three-ton stone from Jerusalem’s Western Wall. Students were able to write prayers on pieces of paper and put them in the wall; when the exhibit closes the prayers will be sent to Jerusalem, said a docent.

The entire exhibit was interesting, McClelland said. "It’s cool to get back to the roots of the religion."

This is precisely the reaction that theology teacher Nicole Veltri was hoping the students would have.

"I want the students to experience their religion history in a tangible way. This is such a really unique experience to connect with the past and find where the development of their theology came from. Whether they’re Christian or not, there is a deep connection to where we come from as people," said Veltri, who learned last spring that the exhibit would be at The Leonardo. During a department meeting, she mentioned that she was considering taking her students to see the Dead Sea Scrolls, and "as we began to talk about it, we thought what a neat experience it would be for the entire school to go during Catholic Schools Week," she said.