Dead Sea Scrolls

At a glance

History, context & interpretation

The text and its story

About 900 manuscripts from 11 caves, discovered between 1947 and 1956. They include the oldest known copies of the Hebrew Bible along with community rules and apocalyptic texts.

Traditional attribution

Sacred texts hidden in caves near the Dead Sea.

Historical scholarship

Copied by many scribes; many scholars link the collection to a sect at Qumran, often identified with the Essenes.

Context and curiosity

The Copper Scroll lists hidden treasure that has never been found.

Chronology and transmission

This text belongs to Judaism (Second Temple Judea). The catalogue gives its approximate dating as c. 250 BCE – 68 CE and original language or script as Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek. The dated manuscript witnesses and traditional claims may not refer to the same historical event.

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Sources and further reading

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls

Historical descriptions are educational summaries. Religious traditions, scholarly interpretations and unverified claims are distinguished where possible; imagery may be illustrative rather than an artifact photograph.