Ancient Scrolls Found in Qumran Caves Unlock Secrets of Jewish History and Biblical Texts

Found almost 80 years ago in the cliffs bordering the Dead Sea, the Scrolls remain among the most stunning discoveries of the 20th century. Found in 11 caves near Khirbet Qumran by a young Bedouin shepherd, the ancient scrolls are composed of over 900 texts written between 200 B.C. and A.D. 70. Together they’re composed of books of the Hebrew Bible (the Book of Isaiah and the Book of Genesis), apocryphal writings and a cryptic copper scroll. Over time, the site has produced fascinating historical, religious, and cultural discoveries that shed light on ancient Judaism and a potential Jewish monastic sect.

Dead Sea Scrolls Origins Linked to Qumran Sect, AI Uncovers New Clues About Ancient Texts

As per a Live Science report, the West Bank history site of Khirbet Qumran was first settled in the Iron Age and also served as a fortress in 100 B.C. by the Hasmoneans. Based on archaeological artefacts, such as a scriptorium and inkwells, it is believed that it was the home of a monastic Jewish sect called the Essenes. Many scholars posit the authors or guardians of the scrolls. The community, it seems, buried the manuscripts to protect them from an attack by the Roman army in A.D. 68 that levelled the town.

The discovery of a twelfth cave in 2017 has renewed interest in the Qumran site of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek scrolls written on leather. The linen wrapping in which the scrolls were found testifies to the Essenes.

New computer methods of analysis would not be able to examine authorship and dating as easily as the above fields, as seen with studies on the Great Isaiah Scroll and Enoch, which discovered older scrolls. Still, human expertise is important, experts say, since AI predictions are not infallible.
Important in religious and historical literature and as rare surviving examples of the Jewish sectarians that flourished before the fall of Jerusalem, the canonical Scrolls of the Qumrân community are unperturbed evidence for Second Temple Judaism.