Solomon Birnbaum; Jewish Scholar

TORONTO — Solomon Birnbaum, a Jewish scholar credited with establishing the authenticity and age of the Dead Sea Scrolls, has died. He was 98.

Birnbaum, a native Austrian who was an expert in ancient Jewish languages, wrote two books on Hebrew and Yiddish and dozens of articles and research papers in an academic career that spanned most of this century.

The scrolls, discovered in caves near the Dead Sea beginning in 1947, include the oldest known manuscripts of the Bible. Birnbaum analyzed the grammar and script to date them from the 3rd Century BC to AD 68, the same period later established by carbon-dating techniques.

Birnbaum was born in Vienna. The University of Hamburg, Germany, created a teaching position for him in the field of Jewish studies in 1922. He fled to England in 1933 when Hitler came to power and taught at the University of London until his retirement in 1957.

Birnbaum continued his research, and moved to Canada in 1970.

He died Thursday in Toronto and funeral services were held Friday, according to his son, Eleazar.

“Some of his main discoveries, in academic terms, were path-breaking . . . remarkable analyses of manuscript material,” Eleazar Birnbaum said.