Qumran & The Dead Sea Scrolls

Our first stop on May 6 will be in Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered by Palestinian shepherds. 

"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" (Biblical Archaeology Society).


Photo source

Begin by taking a look: view the 360 degree panorama or here. The Bible Places website also provides a visual orientation along with an overview of various aspects of the Qumran site. There  you will find a short list of related websites, including, for example, links to The Shrine of the Book (which we will be visiting) and its many resources, including an Interactive Virtual Tour, the Library of Congress Dead Sea Scrolls page (Washington, DC), and many others. For photos of the various caves, click here. 

One of the best websites for information about the Dead Sea Scrolls is the Biblical Archaeology Society's "Bible History Daily" page. Click on the various links on that page to read about the history and controversies surrounding the discovery of the scrolls. For example:

• The Dead Sea Scrolls and Why They Matter
• What Happened, When?
• Caves and Contents

Have a look also at the following:

• LiveScience web page, including a virtual reconstruction of the site.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library
• The Digital Dead Sea Scrolls from the Israel Museum website
• The Israeli government link for tourists has a good overview