They are among the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century: 75 years ago, in the course of 1947, a Bedouin discovered the famous Dead Sea Scrolls in Qumran in the West Bank. According to the popular tale, while searching for an escaped goat, he came across clay jars containing mysterious papyrus fragments in an inaccessible cave on the north-western shore of the Dead Sea, Kathpress reported.
Other experts assume that the story of the accidental find is a fairy tale. It is much more likely that the Bedouins were very familiar with the caves and brought the writings into the antique trade at this time. One thing is certain: on November 29, 1947, the first four Qumran scrolls were acquired by an Israeli scientist. The first report regarding the sensational find appeared in the “Times” on April 12, 1948, but it was not until 1949 that the first excavations by archaeologists took place. By the end of the 1950s, texts and fragments had been recovered from a total of eleven caves. More finds have been made to date.
An invaluable testimony of ancient Judaism and early Christianity: texts by ancient authors such as Pliny, parts of the Bible, but also non-biblical religious texts of the Jewish community that lived in Qumran and is known as the “Essenes”. A huge puzzle: The almost 1,000 documents – around 30,000 fragments – in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek date from between 300 BC and 100 AD. Some in disastrous condition, some just the size of a thumbnail. But there is also an almost complete copy of the biblical book of Isaiah, more than seven meters long. The Qumran Scrolls thus reach back closer in time to the origin of the Bible than any other manuscript.
Exploration far from over
Most of the documents are now in museums and research institutions in Israel, including the “Shrine of the Book” in Jerusalem, which is modeled on a clay jug. Your research is far from over. Finally, there are modern technical processes that open up new avenues for archaeologists and Bible experts: high-resolution imaging processes, artificial intelligence, electron microscopes, radiocarbon and DNA analyzes are intended to help decode the writing, some of which is stuck together, on parchment, leather, papyrus or written on copper.
DNA analysis, for example, showed that many of the texts were written on sheep’s skin – even though there were only goats as livestock in the region at the time. Scholars conclude that not all of the writings were produced at Qumran, but some were also produced by scholars in Jerusalem.
Excavations in the ancient settlement of Qumran in the immediate vicinity of the caves fit in with this: archaeologists have found the remains of an ancient writing workshop there. They assume that there must have been a library of the Essenes in the caves. In other caves, scriptures may have been hidden from the Romans, who almost completely destroyed Jerusalem and its temple during the Jewish War in 70 AD.
In general, it is unclear what Qumran is all regarding: For a long time, German Bible scholars in particular assumed that there was a kind of monastery of the Essen sect where members might live in religious seclusion.
A kind of pilgrimage and meeting place?
Last year, however, the Israeli archaeologist Daniel Vainstub published a research report in which he characterized the ancient site as a kind of place of pilgrimage and gathering. Vainstub pointed out that remains of a central pantry, large ritual baths, a graveyard and a refectory had been found, but no evidence of dwellings such as might be expected for a permanent settlement. According to Vainstub, a small number of people may have lived permanently at the site, while pilgrims camped in the area for the duration of their stay.
The insights that are gained with the help of computer analyzes and algorithms are also exciting. Typefaces can be deciphered. With the Isaiah scroll, it quickly becomes clear that several writers were at work. There are many traces of post-processing and corrections. Research suspects that not only copyists were at work here. The writers are also authors because they have repeatedly intervened in content, added to it or left out entire passages. (apa)
