The Dead Sea Scrolls

What are the Dead Sea Scrolls?

The Dead Sea Scrolls are tremendously early Jewish scripts that date back to the third century BCE to the first century CE.

The significance is easy to articulate, they contain the oldest known copies of Old Testament, except for Ester, along with other writings that cover a wide range of topics, such as Jewish denominational writings, deeds of sale, marriage and divorce records.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are widely considered to be the most significant archaeological find of the 20th century. Written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, they divulge a great deal for those who study the bible, as they open a door to Judaism during the Second Temple period.

From 1947 to 1956, more than 25,000 fragments have been discovered from the caves near Qumran, located on the shores of the Dead Sea. The term 'scrolls' may be a bit of a misdemeanor, as the majority of the scrolls were fragments of what was once much larger scrolls. They ranged in size from the size of a thimble to scrolls that were three to four feet in length. The scrolls were written on several different materials, leather, papyrus and other materials. Since the scrolls were written on organic material they were amenable to rapid decay. But thanks to the extremely dry environment of the surrounding desert, the scrolls were found relatively well preserved.  

For decades since their discovery, extensive work has gone into combing through the fragments as biblical scholars painstakingly connected these fragments to translate and reconstruct the manuscripts. The scrolls contributed greatly to our understanding of the history of the Old Testament’s development as well as the history of the region in the Second Temple period.

There is debate about who wrote the scrolls, but many consider the authors to be the Essene community, another Jewish sect, who lived at Qumran.

How were the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered?

The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered innocently enough in caves near the shores of the Dead Sea between 1947-1956. T

The initial discovery occurred in 1947 when teenage Bedouin shepherds went searching for a lost goat. One of the boys threw a rock into a cave opening, Cave 1Q. They heard something shatter inside the cave, clearly the rock broke something, and the teenagers went into the cave to investigate. There they made a discovery for the ages in the form of clay jars that turned out to contain seven ancient leather and papyrus scrolls, which were the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Consequently, the searches that followed unveiled the 25,000 fragments dating from the third century BCE to first century CE.

The scrolls passed through the hands of antique dealers and then eventually found their way to scholars who recognized the age of the documents. Over the next decade, more fragments were found in ten additional caves near the ruins of Qumran.