The Dead Sea Scrolls, 1947
Most of the archaeological discoveries discussed here involved the work of amateur or professional archaeologists; however, one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century was found accidentally. In the spring of 1947, a young Bedouin shepherd was looking for a stray sheep. He tossed a stone into a cave and heard the sound of breaking pottery. When he entered the cave to investigate, he found a number of large clay jars. Some were empty and others still had the lids. The jars contained old scrolls wrapped in linen cloth.
The young shepherd eventually found seven scrolls in the cave, and sold them to antiquities dealers in Bethlehem. By 1948, four of the scrolls were at St. Mark’s Monastery, and Hebrew University Professor Eliezer Lipa Sukenik had published portions of another three scrolls. By 1954, all seven scrolls were in the possession of the state of Israel. Between 1947 and 1956, a number of other scrolls were located in caves near the original find.
The entirely of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the Qumran caves, near an Essene settlement. The Essenes were a sect of Second Temple Judaism that flourished from the second century BCE to the first century CE. The Essenes lived communally, both in and out of cities, and practiced mysticism and asceticism.
The Dead Sea Scrolls contain a number of Hebrew texts, including the full text of the book of Isaiah, as well as sectarian texts related to the community of Essenes, dating to between 250 BCE and 68 CE. The official published edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls was not released until 2001, after extensive work by international scholars. Working conditions for many of these years, including exposure to bright light and indoor contaminants has significantly damaged the scrolls.
Today, a conservation lab and facility exists solely to preserve the Dead Sea Scrolls. These documents have provided the oldest known copies of nearly all of the Hebrew bible, with the exception of the Book of Esther, as well as a wide range of other secular and religious texts.