Dead Sea Scrolls are ancient manuscripts that were discovered in modern times at several sites near the Dead Sea in the Middle East. The manuscripts include fragments of a number of texts that became part of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament. They also include writings previously unknown to scholars.
Khirbet Qumran.
The most famous Dead Sea Scrolls are those associated with the archaeological site Khirbet Qumran (Ruins of Qumran), near the northwest end of the Dead Sea. A Bedouin shepherd found the first cave containing manuscripts near Qumran in 1947. Since then, Bedouins and scholars have discovered thousands of fragments of more than 900 manuscripts in 11 caves around the ruins of Qumran.
Most of the Qumran Dead Sea Scrolls were written in Hebrew. Others are in Aramaic or Greek. Most were written on leather, but some were written on papyrus. One scroll, called the Copper Scroll, was engraved on copper. A team of archaeologists also found an inscribed piece of broken pottery called an ostracon in the ruins of Qumran. The scrolls date from the late 200’s B.C. to A.D. 68.
The manuscripts found around Qumran are the remains of the library of a Jewish community that lived at the site from the middle 100’s B.C. until A.D. 68. Many scholars identify this community with the Essenes, an ancient Jewish religious group.
Some of the manuscripts found near Qumran were copies of texts previously known to scholars. But the majority of the manuscripts included previously unknown texts. Scholars believe that members of the Qumran community composed some of these unknown texts. Other texts were composed elsewhere and brought to the community.
Previously known texts.
About 210 manuscripts are copies of texts that became part of the Hebrew Bible. Fragments of every book of the Hebrew Bible except the Book of Esther have been found in the Qumran caves. There were also fragments of books that are included in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox versions of the Bible. Such books include Ben Sira (also known as Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus), Tobit, the Letter of Jeremiah, and Psalm 151. Scholars have not positively identified any text from the New Testament of the Christian Bible among the Qumran manuscripts.
In the ancient world, numerous versions of the books of the Bible circulated. Modern scholars refer to different versions of books of the Bible as text types. One text type known as the Masoretic text type is used for most modern translations of the Bible. Other text types of Biblical books include the Septuagint (ancient Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible) and the Samaritan Pentateuch.
Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls are almost identical to the traditional Masoretic text type of the Hebrew Bible. Others are similar to the Septuagint or the Samaritan Pentateuch traditions. Still others differ significantly from all of these main textual traditions. Some of the Biblical Dead Sea Scrolls that differ from the Masoretic text type have made their way into modern translations of the Bible.
Among the Dead Sea Scrolls are also manuscripts of texts called pseudepigrapha—that is, texts whose authors falsely credited them to earlier, more authoritative writers. The pseudepigrapha include the Books of Enoch and Jubilees, neither of which appears in the Hebrew Bible. The Epistle of Jude in the Christian Bible quotes a portion of Enoch as an authoritative text. Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Enoch and Jubilees were known only as Ethiopic (Ge’ez), Greek, and Latin translations of the originals. The Dead Sea Scrolls include fragmentary manuscripts of Enoch in the original Aramaic and Jubilees in the original Hebrew.
Previously unknown texts.
Scholars believe that members of the Jewish community living at Qumran composed some of the texts discovered in the nearby caves. The most important of these texts include the Rule of the Community, also known as the Manual of Discipline; the Thanksgiving Hymns, also known as the Hodayot; the War Scroll; and Some Works of the Torah, also known as More Precepts of the Torah.
Members of the Qumran community also wrote commentaries called pesharim about books of the Hebrew Bible. Other important texts related to, but not necessarily composed by, members of the Qumran community include the Damascus Document, Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, and the Temple Scroll.
Other sites.
Scholars have also found ancient manuscripts at other sites near the Dead Sea, including Masada, Nahal Hever, Wadi Murabbaat, and Wadi Daliyeh. The manuscripts from these sites are also often called Dead Sea Scrolls. They include Biblical texts; a copy of Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, a text also found near Qumran; letters and other personal documents; and administrative and legal documents.
See also Essenes.
