How the world has changed—in only 25 years. A recent public letter from Israel Antiquities Authority director Shuka Dorfman tells us he is “very proud” to announce the availability of Read more…
Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls have been called the greatest manuscript find of all time. Discovered between 1947 and 1956, the Dead Sea Scrolls comprise some 800 documents but in many tens of thousands of fragments. The Scrolls date from around 250 B.C. to 68 A.D. and were written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek; they contain Biblical and apocryphal works, prayers and legal texts and sectarian documents.
This priceless collection of ancient manuscripts is invaluable to our understanding of the history of Judaism, the development of the Hebrew Bible, and the beginnings of Christianity.
Introduction |
Discovery and Publication |
Library and Learning |
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Freeing the Dead Sea Scrolls
• 04/04/2013
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Who Were the Essenes?
• 02/07/2013
In a recent study about the Essenes of Qumran, archaeologist Eyal Regev used the tools of social archaeology to answer the question, “Who were the Essenes?” Read more…
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Dead Sea Scrolls Scholar’s Son Off to Jail
• 01/30/2013
A New York appellate court has affirmed the criminal conviction of Raphael Golb, son of Dead Sea Scroll scholar Norman Golb, for impersonating another Dead Sea Scroll scholar, Lawrence Schiffman. Read more…
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Brandeis Students Highlight Science in the Scrolls
• 01/28/2013
The scrolls’ final stop is at the Museum of Science in Boston (beginning in May 2013), and the museum has worked closely with Brandeis University students and faculty to organize Read more…
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Digital Dead Sea Scrolls Finally Available Online
• 12/18/2012
This week, the Israel Antiquities Authority, in collaboration with Google, launched The Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library, a new website that allows visitors to view and search high-resolution Read more…
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Ancient Scribe Links Qumran Scrolls to Masada
• 11/02/2012
There has been a great deal written about the community of scribes that penned the Qumran scrolls. These studies rarely focus on an individual ancient scribe; they generally focus on Read more…
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Historical Context
• 09/20/2012
The scrolls were written during a time of significant turmoil and strife between the Greek-influenced elite and the more traditional Jewish populations of Judea. From the time of Alexander the Read more…
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What Happened When
• 09/20/2012
The Dead Sea Scrolls have a long, complicated and mysterious history and many “facts” have been lost in the intervening years. The following list describes the events surrounding the discovery Read more…
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Scroll Spotlight
• 09/17/2012
Discover more about The Book of Enoch, The Temple Scroll and The War Scroll and their fascinating contents Read more…
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Josephus on the Essenes
• 07/10/2012
Josephus’s commentaries on the laws and characteristics of the Essene community have been invaluable to scholars studying ancient Jewish laws and customs. Read more…
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New Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit Opens in Fort Worth, Texas
• 07/05/2012
A new Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, titled “Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible,” opened up this week at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX. A press release Read more…
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Unrolling Fragile Dead Sea Scrolls
• 06/25/2012
The Israel Museum and Google’s collaborative Digital Dead Sea Scrolls project, which provides searchable, high-resolution images of several Dead Sea Scrolls, set its sites higher by attempting to read fragile Read more…
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Dead Sea Scrolls In Philadelphia
• 05/17/2012
The Franklin Institute’s Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Ancient Times exhibit presents one of the most comprehensive collections of ancient artifacts from Israel ever organized, featuring twenty scrolls Read more…
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Book of Nehemiah Found Among the Scrolls
• 05/15/2012
Norwegian scroll scholar Torleif Elgvin of Evangelical Lutheran University College in Oslo, Norway, announced that he and colleague Esther Eshel of Bar-Ilan University will be publishing a collection of more Read more…
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Fifty Years of Dead Sea Scroll Translation
• 05/11/2012
Fifty years have passed since a young scholar named Geza Vermes published the first Dead Sea Scrolls translation of the texts available at the time. The seventh edition of the Read more…
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From the BAS Library
• 05/06/2012
The Dead Sea Scrolls have fascinated the world since their discovery 60 years ago. This collection of articles from Biblical Archaeology Review covers some of the major topics in Scrolls Read more…
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Introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls
• 04/16/2012
Read more about the remarkable discovery, excavations and “the academic scandal par excellence of the 20th century.” Read more…
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Cast of Characters
• 04/16/2012
A list of prominent biblical scholars, professors, priests and many others who have been involved in the study, publication and protection of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Read more…
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Google Helps Readers Understand Scroll Translations
• 04/10/2012
In September 2011, Google and the Israel Museum launched the ambitious Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Project, with the aim of eventually making English translations and high-resolution images of all of Read more…
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Dead Sea Scrolls on the Go
• 03/21/2012
If your eReader travels everywhere with you, why not take the Dead Sea Scrolls with you too? The Biblical Archaeology Society has just released eReader versions of two of our Read more…
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Qumran Clothing Suggests Scroll Authors Were Essene
• 11/25/2011
A new study of more than 200 textile fragments recovered from the Qumran caves suggests the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls were part of the local Essene community. The Read more…
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Dead Sea Scrolls Take Manhattan
• 10/31/2011
For the next six months, visitors to New York’s Times Square will be able to view a rare collection of 20 Dead Sea Scrolls, together with hundreds of other Biblical-era Read more…
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Try the Latest Technology for Yourself
• 10/14/2011
In Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR)’s November/December 2011 issue, Biblical scholar and digital imaging expert Bruce Zuckerman introduces readers to RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging), a revolutionary imaging technology that is changing Read more…
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World Rushes to View Dead Sea Scrolls Online
• 10/04/2011
In the week since the Israel Museum and Google began posting high-resolution images of the Dead Sea Scrolls online, more than a million people from across the world have stopped Read more…
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Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls of Qumran
• 10/03/2011
Discovered in the caves above Qumran, the Dead Sea Scrolls have provided scholars with important information about the Jewish communities that resided in the environs of Qumran. Read more…
