BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Where Were the Dead Sea Scrolls Found and Who Put Them There?

Qumran caves reveal lost scroll secrets

DSS-cave

Where were the Dead Sea Scrolls found and who put them there? Scroll scholar Sidnie White Crawford explores what we can learn about the scrolls from the Qumran caves where they were discovered. Photo: Werner Braun.

Roland de Vaux, one of the original excavators of Khirbet Qumran near the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, believed the Dead Sea Scrolls found in the Qumran caves had been written, collected and ultimately hidden away by the Essenes, a Jewish sectarian group that may have established the small, secluded settlement of Qumran in the late second century B.C.E.

While some scholars have since argued that there is, in fact, no connection between the site of Qumran and the scrolls, scroll scholar Sidnie White Crawford writes in “A View from the Caves” in the September/October 2011 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review that evidence from the Qumran caves proves that de Vaux was right after all.

According to Sidnie White Crawford, the Qumran caves where the scrolls were found can be divided into two groups. The caves closest to the site were chiseled out by hand from the soft, marl sandstone upon which Khirbet Qumran was built. These caves, which were closer to the site and better ventilated, served as residences for Qumran’s inhabitants. The residential Qumran caves (with the exception of Cave 4—see below) contained only a smattering of scrolls kept for private study and personal devotion.

FREE ebook: The Dead Sea Scrolls: Discovery and Meaning. What the Dead Sea Scrolls teach about Judaism and Christianity.

* Indicates a required field.

Beyond the immediate sandstone terrace, however, is another set of Qumran caves. These natural caves, which penetrate the imposing and darkened limestone cliffs above Qumran, were used to hide many of the longer and more complete Dead Sea Scrolls, including the War Scroll and the Temple Scroll. The presence of these scrolls, which often reflect a sectarian Jewish worldview, indicates the scrolls were hidden by the local Qumran community, not by desperate Temple priests fleeing the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.

Cave 4, a residential cave in the marl terrace, however, was found littered with thousands of jumbled scroll fragments representing more than 500 separate documents written across a span of nearly three centuries. According to Sidnie White Crawford, almost every composition found in the other ten caves, including the caves in the limestone cliffs, is also found in Cave 4. The lack of any discernable order among the texts suggests they were all hurriedly placed in the cave at the same time, possibly in an effort to hide them from the Roman legion that was advancing on Qumran in 68 C.E.


Visit the Dead Sea Scrolls study page in Bible History Daily for more on this priceless collection of ancient manuscripts.


In addition, Sidnie White Crawford found evidence that the same pottery jars in which the scrolls were stored are also found in fragments all over the site of Qumran. This evidence indicates that those who placed the scrolls in the caves and those who lived at Khirbet Qumran were one and the same.

——————

Want to learn more about who hid the Dead Sea Scrolls? Read “A View from the Caves” by Sidnie White Crawford in the Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 2011.


This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on September 28, 2011.—Ed.


 

Related Posts

Moses Shapira
Mar 5
The Shapira Fragments

By: Jonathan Klawans

Copper Scroll
Dec 19
Dating the Copper Scroll

By: Megan Sauter


6 Responses

  1. C Quitnow says:

    For more info on the Essenes, Jesus and Scrolls read Dolores Cannon’s book Jesus and the Essenes. She has videos on youtube.com.

  2. Rev. George Brooks says:

    Anyone who preaches all of this old mess in the Bible that came from some old folks far back in time, and nothing is even known about their NAMES, or their lives, nor who among them wrote what, is preaching and misleading the people. And such people should get up and walk OUT of any and every church that tells people about stuff that cannot be proven as being truthful. And people should not go into ANY church, or turn on ANY TV. to listen to preachers that talk about those old writings of long ago. For it cannot be truthfully said to be the TRUTH, but only hearsay, which has also been changed time and time again by others. And I, as a minister, NEVER tell people about any of this mess by that old long ago crowd of UNEDUCATED folks. Even the story about Adam and Eve being the first people on the earth is AN ABSOLUTE LIE. — Rev. George Brooks (615) 494-9056

  3. Rev James Madison says:

    When I was in Bible, years ago, I was taught that when the Scribes made a mistake in writing, instead of just throwing it away, which would be disrespectful,they would put them in a jar and hide them in the caves. Is this correct? Pastor James Madison

  4. What are the Dead Sea Scrolls? « Indiana Jen says:

    […] more in their article “Where Were the Dead Sea Scrolls Found and Who Put Them There?” GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); […]

Write a Reply or Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


6 Responses

  1. C Quitnow says:

    For more info on the Essenes, Jesus and Scrolls read Dolores Cannon’s book Jesus and the Essenes. She has videos on youtube.com.

  2. Rev. George Brooks says:

    Anyone who preaches all of this old mess in the Bible that came from some old folks far back in time, and nothing is even known about their NAMES, or their lives, nor who among them wrote what, is preaching and misleading the people. And such people should get up and walk OUT of any and every church that tells people about stuff that cannot be proven as being truthful. And people should not go into ANY church, or turn on ANY TV. to listen to preachers that talk about those old writings of long ago. For it cannot be truthfully said to be the TRUTH, but only hearsay, which has also been changed time and time again by others. And I, as a minister, NEVER tell people about any of this mess by that old long ago crowd of UNEDUCATED folks. Even the story about Adam and Eve being the first people on the earth is AN ABSOLUTE LIE. — Rev. George Brooks (615) 494-9056

  3. Rev James Madison says:

    When I was in Bible, years ago, I was taught that when the Scribes made a mistake in writing, instead of just throwing it away, which would be disrespectful,they would put them in a jar and hide them in the caves. Is this correct? Pastor James Madison

  4. What are the Dead Sea Scrolls? « Indiana Jen says:

    […] more in their article “Where Were the Dead Sea Scrolls Found and Who Put Them There?” GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); […]

Write a Reply or Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Send this to a friend