In 1947 a shepherd boy made one of the most important discoveries of modern archaeology. The collection of ancient manuscripts that he found in a cave in Jordan are known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Most of the scrolls date from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD. They are made of leather, papyrus (an early form of paper), and copper. The manuscripts include books of the Hebrew Bible as well as other texts. The Dead Sea Scrolls have been useful in understanding the history of the Hebrew Bible and of the ancient land called Palestine. They have also shed light on the relation between early Christianity and Judaism. DiscoveryThe shepherd boy found the first scrolls in a cave on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea. According to one version of the story he found them when a runaway goat jumped into the cave. When the shepherd threw in a stone, he heard the sound of breaking pottery. He then called to another boy, and the two crawled into the cave. The boys found seven scrolls in pottery jars. The scrolls were examined and photographed. They were then studied by scholars. Meanwhile, other shepherds searched the caves near the first one. They found hundreds of additional manuscripts, many of them fragments. ContentsThe first seven scrolls found are considered the most important. They consist of two scrolls of the biblical book of Isaiah, one complete and the other incomplete, and five scrolls of nonbiblical texts. One of the five nonbiblical texts is the Rule of the Community, also called the Manual of Discipline. It gives detailed information on a Jewish group that flourished on the shores of the Dead Sea from the mid-2nd century BC to AD 68. This sect is believed to have been the Essenes. Along with the Sadducees and the Pharisees, it was one of the three principal divisions within Judaism at the time. Among later finds was the Temple Scroll. The Temple Scroll, found in the late 1950s, is the longest and most complete of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The document confirms links between early Christian principles and the religious teachings of the Essenes. OriginsThere are two theories regarding the origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Some scholars believe that they were the work of Essene copyists. Others, however, believe that the scrolls were part of a collection of important Jewish works that were sent from Jerusalem for safekeeping when Romans invaded Judaea in the 1st century AD. AccessFor many years only a small number of scholars had access to the scrolls. Many people who were denied access complained about the policy, and in the early 1990s some copies were published. The officials of the Israeli Antiquities Authority then agreed to lift restrictions on the use of scrolls. |