Dead Sea scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls comprise roughly 850 documents, including texts from the Hebrew Bible, discovered between 1947 and 1956 in eleven caves in and around the Wadi Qumran (near the ruins of the ancient settlement of Khirbet Qumran, on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea). The texts are of great significance in a religious context (as well as a political context), as they are practically the only remaining Biblical documents dating from before AD 100.

Discovery

Cave 1

The journey of the Dead Sea Scrolls from the Bedouin who discovered them to the International Team later assembled to begin reconstruction and translation is perhaps as mysterious and remarkable as the scrolls themselves. It begins, perhaps unexpectedly, with a sheep.

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The date is unclear, and suggestions have varied throughout the 1930s and 40s as alternatives to the more accepted date of 1947. Probably in early 1947, Mohammed Ahmed el-Hamed (nicknamed edh-Dhib--the wolf), a Bedouin shepherd, set out to find a lost sheep. While searching caves in the rugged hillsides, he tossed a stone into one, hoping to scare his sheep out. His sheep was not to be found, but what he heard instead warranted further investigation--the shattering of pottery. Entering the cave, he found several ancient jars, containing scrolls wrapped in linen.

Related Topics:
1947 - Pottery - Scrolls

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Or so the commonly accepted version goes (based largely on interviews carried out by John C. Trever). Details are unclear at best; perhaps it was a goat, rather than a sheep. Perhaps there were two Bedouin, rather than one. Perhaps they took the scrolls straightaway, or came back the next day, or several days later. Efforts to clarify have been unfruitful, and scholars have interviewed more different Mohammed edh-Dhibs than there were texts taken from that initial cache, each with his own version of events.

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The tale remains murky. The scrolls were first brought to a Bethlehem antiquities dealer named Ibrahim 'Ijha, who soon returned them after being notified that they may have been stolen from a synagogue. The scrolls then soon found their way to a cobbler cum antiquities dealer, Khalil Eskander Shahin, better known as Kando. Again we are veiled with the shroud of mystery. By most accounts, the Bedouin took only three scrolls with them after the initial find, and either encouraged by Kando to return, revisited the site to gather more, or perhaps Kando engaged in his own illegal excavation. What is certain is that Kando found himself in possession of at least four scrolls.

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Arrangements with Bedouin left the scrolls in the hands of a third party until a sale of them could be negotiated. That third party, George Isha'ya, was a member of the Syrian Orthodox Church, who soon contacted St. Mark's Monastary in the hope of getting an appraisal of the nature of the texts. News of the find then reached Metropolitan Athanasius Yeshue Samuel, more often referred to as Mar Samuel.

Related Topics:
Syrian Orthodox Church - St. Mark's Monastary - Mar Samuel

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After examining the scrolls, and suspecting they were very old indeed, Mar Samuel expressed an interest in purchasing them. All four scrolls found their way into his hands, the now famous Isaiah Scroll, the Community Rule, the Habakkuk Peshar, and the Genesis Apocryphon. Through the antiquities market, more scrolls soon surfaced, and Eleazer Sukenik found himself in possession of three: The War Scroll, Thanksgiving Hymns, and another, more fragmented Isaiah scroll.

Related Topics:
Mar Samuel - Isaiah Scroll - Community Rule - Habakkuk Peshar - Genesis Apocryphon - Eleazer Sukenik - War Scroll - Thanksgiving Hymns

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By the end of 1947, Sukenik, by strange coincidence, received word of the scrolls in Mar Samuel's possession, and attempted to purchase them. No deal was reached, and instead the scrolls found the attention of John C. Trever, of the American School of Oriental Research (ASOR). Trever found similarity between the script in the scrolls and that of the Nash Papyrus, which was, at the time, the oldest biblical manuscript.

Related Topics:
Mar Samuel - Nash Papyrus

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By another strange coincidence, Trever, apart from being a gifted Biblical scholar, was also an excellent amateur photographer. He arranged to meet with Mar Samuel on February 21, 1948, when he photographed the scrolls. The quality of his photographs often exceeded that of the scrolls themselves over the years, as the texts quickly eroded once removed from the relative sanctuary of their linen wraps.

Related Topics:
Mar Samuel - February 21 - 1948

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In March of that same year violence erupted between Arabs and Jews in Palestine, prompting the removal of the scrolls from the country for safe-keeping. Despite the fact that removal of such antiquities was against the law, the scrolls nonetheless soon found themselves in Beirut.

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It would not be until 1949, nearly two years after the discovery, that scholars would locate the cave from which the scrolls were lifted. An excavation of the cave began in February of that year, led by G L Harding and Roland De Vaux. The Bedouin had already scooped the archaeologists of the larger manuscripts and fragments, yet nonetheless some 600 fragments were collected, as well as scraps of wood, cloth, and pottery shards. Infra-red photographs were taken of the fragments, again providing a valuable means of later reading the texts.

Related Topics:
1949 - Roland De Vaux

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After it was apparent that more than the scrolls obtained by Sukenik and Mar Samuel had been pilfered, a deal was struck with Kando, who acted on behalf of the Bedouin. A sum of 1000 Jordanian pounds would be paid to Kando in exchange for the remaining fragments. Dealing with antiquities dealers and looters, while generally considered distasteful, was the necessary action to acquire the scrolls for further study.

Related Topics:
Mar Samuel - Pounds

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Cave 2

Three years later, in 1952, the Bedouin struck again, in another nearby cave (Cave 2). While not as monumental as the manuscript cache from Cave 1, numerous fragments were uncovered by the Bedouin who, working again through Kando, sold them to the Palestine Archaeological Museum and the École Biblique.

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Cave 3

On March 14 of the same year, fate would finally favour the scholars and their expedition, as they found a third cave containing manuscript fragments. In addition to these, perhaps the most mysterious of all the scrolls, the Copper Scroll, ostensibly comprising a list and directions to treasure sites containing fabulous wealth.

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Cave 4

In August of '52, fortune once again smiled on the Bedouin, who made a monumental find in Cave 4. Huge volumes of scroll fragments (though no complete scrolls) soon surfaced on the antiquities market. Harding soon found the site, catching the Bedouin in the midst of looting. More than half of the massive cache had been gathered up by fortune seeking Bedouin. The archaeological excavation began in late September of that year, yielding many more fragments from many more texts, as well as a second chamber to the cave.

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The financially struggling Jordanian government soon found itself unable to fund further purchases, and so instead offered the opportunity to foreign institutions to invest in the acquisition of the scrolls, for which they would be compensated with fragments. Several institutions responded, but were to be denied their purchase and refunded their money when the Jordanian government changed its position, instead keeping the texts in Jordan.

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Caves 5 and 6

Excavations at Cave 4 soon led to the discovery of Cave 5, offering a modest yield of fragments. The Bedouin, shortly thereafter, found Cave 6, netting the remains of nearly three dozen more scrolls. Oddly, most of these were papyrus rather than the leather that predominated in the other caves.

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Mar Samuel, meanwhile, had made his way to America. Here he tried vainly to sell the texts in his possession, even displaying them once at the Library of Congress. Finally, out of desparation, a now famous ad was taken out in the Wall Street Journal. On June 1st, 1954, a Wall Street Journal Classified advertisement proclaimed "The Four Dead Sea Scrolls: Biblical Manuscripts dating back to at least 200 BC, are for sale. This would be an ideal gift to an educational or religious institution by an individual or group." This ad was brought to the attention of Yigael Yadin, son of Sukenik, who--working through an intermediary--managed to purchase the scrolls for the sum of $250,000.

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Caves 7-10

In 1955, four more caves would be discovered--7 through 10--by archaeologists. Yielding few fragments, they were nonetheless significant. Cave 7 would yield nineteen Greek fragments (including 7Q5), and spark much debate in the ensuing decades. Cave 8 held but five fragments, though many materials used in the tieing of scrolls would be found. Cave 9 held but one fragment, and Cave 10 nothing but an Ostracon.

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Cave 11

The Bedouin would get the last laugh, with the discovery of Cave 11, yielding over two dozen texts, including the Temple Scroll, which would later be seized by the Israeli army at the behest of Yigael Yadin. Two other complete scrolls would turn up from Cave 11, a copy of Leviticus, and a book of Psalms, including several previously unknown hymns. Many have speculated that more Cave 11 scrolls may rest in the hands of a private collector.

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