The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name. They were specifically located at Khirbet Qumran in what was then the British Mandate Palestine, now the West Bank.

The texts are of great religious and historical significance, as they include the earliest known surviving copies of Biblical and extra-biblical documents and preserve evidence of great diversity in late Second Temple Judaism. They are written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, mostly on parchment, but with some written on papyrus. These manuscripts generally date between 150 BCE and 70 CE, although carbon dating indicates this range extends to the third century BCE (see Carbon dating the Dead Sea Scrolls). Bronze coins found on the site form a series beginning with Hyrcanus 1 (135-104 BCE) and continue without a gap until the first Jewish revolt. The scrolls are traditionally identified with the ancient Jewish sect called the Essenes, though some recent interpretations have challenged this association and argue that the scrolls were penned by priests in Jerusalem, Zadokites, or other unknown Jewish groups.

Robert Eisenman is an American Biblical scholar, theoretical writer, historian, archaeologist, and "road" poet. He is currently Professor of Middle East Religions, Archaeology, and Islamic Law and director of the Institute for the Study of Judaeo-Christian Origins at California State University Long Beach.

Eisenman led the campaign to free up access to the Dead Sea Scrolls in the 1980s and 90s, and, as a result of this campaign, is associated with the theory that combines Essenes with Palestinian messianism (or what some might refer to as "Palestinian Christianity") — a theory opposed to establishment or consensus scholarship. He is also well known for his work in the field of Christian origins and, in a general way, introducing the public to the character known as "James the brother of Jesus."

Before this, Eisenman spent five years "on the road" in the USA, Europe, and the Middle East as far as India, encapsulating all these things in his poetic travel Diario (1959–62), published in 2007 by North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California and called The New Jerusalem, in which he describes the San Francisco "Beat" scene in 1958–59, Paris when still a "moveable feast", working on kibbutzim in Israel, the Peace Corps, and several voyages on the overland route to India.

Mark William Strange (born October 8, 1973) is an English actor, film producer and martial arts action performer. Strange has worked on a number of feature films including The Medallion and The Twins Effect along with Jackie Chan and Batman Begins to name but a few. He has also produced and co-produced feature films, including Displaced, Underground, and Bodyguard: A New Beginning released in the US by Lionsgate.

Mark Strange's career in martial arts began in his first decade of life and he has over 24 years experience. He trained in kung fu, learning a variety of styles and kung fu systems. His study took him to China, where he trained with the kung fu masters at the Shaolin Temple, Foshan, and Hong Kong. In the UK, he trained for many years with Master Derek Frearson. As an all-round martial artist, Mark's talent was quickly recognised.

He gained tournament success in a range of disciplines in his prime. He represented Britain in the 2002 Chin Woo Championships in China; Euro-British Full Contact Champion in 1999; and the MAI National Chinese Forms Champion in 1992. He was, at the time, the youngest person in the UK to run his own full-time martial arts, in the Lancashire town of Leyland. The facility provided martial arts and fitness instruction, and provided a service for over 12 years before finally closing when Mark decided to focus on his career in film.

Rageh Omaar ( /ˈræɡi ˈoʊmɑː/; Somali: Raage Oomaar, Arabic: راجح عمر‎), (born 19 July 1967) is a Somali born British journalist and writer. His latest book Only Half of Me deals with the tensions between these two sides of his identity. He used to be a BBC world affairs correspondent, where he made his name reporting from Iraq. In September 2006, he moved to a new post at Al Jazeera English, where he presented the nightly weekday documentary series Witness until January 2010. The Rageh Omaar Report, first aired February 2010, is a new one-hour, monthly investigative documentaries in which Rageh Omaar reports on the world's most important current affairs stories.

Rageh was born in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. He is the son of a wealthy businessman from the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia. A Muslim, Rageh's family is originally from Hargeisa.

Rageh moved to the United Kingdom when he was two years old. He was educated at two independent schools: the Dragon School in Oxford, Oxfordshire and Cheltenham College in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. He later studied Modern History at New College at the University of Oxford.