The Dead Sea Scrolls were initially made available to the public
The Dead Sea scrolls have piqued my interest in the past. My research into them has left me far less enthusiastic that I once was, however. It would seem that the things I initially saw as a proof of diety are more so a tradition of men. However, I do view them as an interesting religious artifact, scriptural elements, and curiosity.On this day in 1991 the Dead Sea Scrolls were initially made available to the public. The ancient manuscripts of Jewish and Hebrew derivation were found in the Qumran Caves of the Judaean Desert. They were near the Ein Feshkha nature reserve and archaeological site on the northern shore of the Dead Sea located on the West Bank.
These texts were accidentally found by teenage shepherds from the area and have great historical, religious, and linguistic significance due to their inclusion of the second oldest known surviving manuscripts included in the canon of the Hebrew Bible. Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were actually sold in the classified section of newspapers. Almost all of the scrolls are now held by the state of Israel in the Shrine of the Book complex on the grounds of the Israel Museum.
Ownership of the scrolls is also disputed by Jordan and Palestine.
The fragments are some of many found in the Dead Sea area and represent those remnants of larger manuscripts damaged by either natural causes or human inflicted damage and the vast majority have small increments of text. In addition, a small number of almost intact manuscripts have survived.
Authorship of Dead Sea Scrolls has been a subject of protracted debate. Archaeologists have long associated the scrolls with the ancient Jewish sect called the Essenes. Recent interpreters have challenged the connection and claim that priests in Jerusalem, or Zadokites, or others of the Jewish persuasion wrote the scrolls.
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Almost all of the Hebrew Bible is contained in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Hebrew is not the only language of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Most of the texts use Hebrew, with some written in Aramaic and some in regional dialects such as Nabataean with others in Greek.
The media upon which they are written appears primarily to be parchment with some papyrus and one is on copper.
Due to the poor condition of some of the scrolls all of the texts have not been identified. Of those which have been identified there are:
| • | Hebrew Scriptures |
| • | Second Temple Period with their Apocryphal and non canonical texts like the Book of Enoch |
| • | Sectarian manuscripts of previously unknown documents |
It is said that the Dead Sea Scrolls include a guide to hidden treasure. The copper scroll includes this but none of the treasure has ever been found. There are varying theories surrounding the veracity of this notion as well.