On the left bank of the Dead Sea are the limestone caves carved out of cliffs along the valleys that descend through the Judean wilds. These caves have been a source of much controversy and interest for the past many decades as they were the bearers of a timeless archaeological treasure the Dead Sea Scrolls. This initiated an in-depth study of the phenomenon and many new and interesting discoveries were made over the years. .
This paper is highly beneficial for the class of "Hebrew Scriptures" because it discusses the history of the scrolls and briefly analyzes the few that found at Qumran. It also gives insight into the present development and mysteries surrounding the scrolls raising the interest level of the student in the archaeological find. .
The first discovery.
The first discovery of the scrolls was made in the spring of 1947 when young Bedouin shepherds, searching for a lost goat in the cliffs along the Dead Sea in Judean Desert, went into a cave that had never been visited before by anyone and found jars filled with ancient scrolls. These jars discovered by the Bedouin had seven scrolls, which they sold to a cobbler and antiquities dealer called Kando. Kando did not keep them with himself, as they were useless for him so he sold three of them to Eleazar L. Sukenik of Hebrew University, and four to Metropolitan Mar Athanasius Yeshue Samuel of the Syrian Orthodox monastery of St. Mark. The four with Mar Athanasius further traveled as he brought them to the American School of Oriental Research. Here they successfully gained the undivided attention of American and European scholars and thus initiated a search for others that went one for at least ten years. This further search bore fruit as well and thousands of scroll fragments from eleven other caves between 1948 and 1956. .
The Qumran Ruin and the time period of the scrolls.