Dead Sea Scrolls - The Qumran Manuscripts

Findings in 11 Caves on the North West Shore of the Dead Sea

May 4, 2009

The Dead Sea Scrolls found at the Qumran Caves present a wealth of information and a special insight into the formative years of Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism.

The Dead Sea Scrolls refer to the discovery of manuscripts, at 11 caves in Qumran on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, between the years 1947 and 1956.

Many scholars consider the Dead Sea Scrolls the greatest manuscript discovery of the 20th century because of it entails a library of 800 texts that casts a direct light on the time period of 2000 years ago when both Christianity and rabbinic Judaism emerged.

Content of the Dead Sea Scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls can be divided into two groups - biblical and non-biblical texts. Between 20 to 25% of the documents are biblical. Fragments of every text of the Old Testament have been discovered except the book of Esther.

The non-biblical texts can be subdivided in several ways - hymns and psalms, biblical commentaries, legal texts and wisdom literature, among others.

Who were the Qumran sect? Essenes or Sadducees?

The sectarian non-biblical parts of the Dead Sea scrolls refer to the rules and beliefs of a specific group of Jews. Some scholars refer to the sect as Essenes, as they are mentioned by Josephus, Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.) and Philo (20 B.C. - 50 A.D.).

Other scholars challenge the inconsistencies in the scrolls - For example, the militant, warlike statements in some of the Qumran texts seem hostile to the commonly held view that the Essenes were pacifists.

The Copper Scroll

The Copper Scroll is considered an anomaly in the Qumran discovery. It was found separate from the other scrolls in the back of a cave in 1952.

The purity of the copper in the scrolls, with only 1% tin (that prevented its oxidation) is unique in that the other scrolls were made of either papyrus or leather. Instead of biblical or sectarian content (that the other scrolls had), the copper scroll merely has details about where some treasures could be found.

The language of the Copper Scroll is a form of Hebrew in an unusual script. A rough calculation of the total treasure listed in the copper scroll amounted to 58 to 174 tons of precious metal. Some scholars suppose the treasure to be imaginary, others contend that the copper scroll was placed in the caves separately and did not belong in Qumran along with the other scrolls.

Approximately 2000 years have passed after the scrolls were left in the caves near the Dead Sea - its truly a remarkable archaeological find because it offers an invaluable insight into a critical period of Judaism and Christianity.

In addition to the three groups identified by Josephus (Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes), Judaism was further divided into numerous religious sects and political parties. With the destruction of the Temple and the commonwealth in 70 C.E., all that came to an end. Only the Judaism of the Pharisees – Rabbinic Judaism – survived.