BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

The Dead Sea Scrolls in Denver

Two Dead Sea Scrolls on display for the first time ever

Fragment of the War Scroll from Cave 4. © Israeli Antiquities Authority.

If you ever have wanted to see the Dead Sea Scrolls but have not been able to travel to the Middle East, this may be your chance. Select Dead Sea Scrolls are on display at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science in Denver, Colorado, from March 16 to September 3, 2018.

Perhaps the most significant archaeological discovery of the 20th century, the Dead Sea Scrolls represent the earliest extant copies of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). In addition to Biblical texts, the scrolls contain numerous texts, such as the War Scroll (Scroll 1QM), penned by a sectarian community. Many scholars attribute the scrolls—written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek—to the Essenes, a branch of Jews who adhered to an ascetic lifestyle.

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Bedouin first came across the scrolls in caves near the site of Qumran, less than a mile west of the Dead Sea, in 1947 (or a little earlier). An archaeological excavation of the caves followed two years later—with several expeditions between 1949 and 1956. In all, fragments of 972 separate scrolls were uncovered.

The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Photo: Yoli Shwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority.

At the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit in Denver, full English translations accompany the scrolls. Two scrolls, one on the rules of ritual purity (Scroll 4Q274) and one describing instructions for moral conduct (Scroll 4Q418), are making their public appearance for the first time ever.

Israel Antiquities Authority conservator Tatiana Treiger holding a fragment of Scroll 4Q274. Photo: Yoli Shwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Additionally, a variety of artifacts from the ancient Near East—spanning more than a millennium (c. 1200 B.C.E.–70 C.E.)—are on display. These include inscriptions, seals, weapons, terracotta figurines, coins, shoes, textiles, mosaics, ceramics, and jewelry, as well as a 3-ton stone from the Western Wall, which was once part of the Temple Mount’s platform built by King Herod the Great.

The Dead Sea Scrolls have been called the greatest manuscript find of all time. Visit the BAS Dead Sea Scrolls Page for dozens of articles on the scrolls’ significance, discovery and scholarship.