The name Qumran is clouded in the fog of time. The site has been known to modern scholars since the middle of the 19th century. The rather large cemetary at the foot of the plateau was the main point of interest.

Discovery of Qumran
All of this changed in 1947, when some ancient scrolls came to light, found in caves surrounding the ruins. These were the first of many scrolls and fragments that today make up the Dead Sea Scrolls. Soon afterwards new exploration and surveys were made of the area led by Roland de Vaux, under the auspices of the Jordanian government. This was eventually followed by full scale excavations, again by Roland de Vaux. Since then many further excavations have taken place, each of them revealing new insights.

The findings show that the settlement was created in the middle of the second century BCE and was inhabited for the greater part of the next 170 years, to be abandoned and destroyed around the time of the First Jewish Revolt against the Romans (66-70 CE).

The people of Qumran
The concensus among most archeologists and scholars is that it was settled by a Jewish sect, known as the Essenes. This sect is known from other sourches such as Josephus Flavius, Philo, Pliny the Elder, the Gospels, and the Dead Sea Scrolls themselves.

As important as Qumran is, it is the Scrolls that have become known as the most important Biblical find of the 20th century, shedding new light of a very special group of people, but also on the time itself when they were written, studies and eventually hidden away.

The site
The site consists of an arrangement of buildings – the tower, the scriptorium, the communal dining hall, the pottery storage room, the mikvot (ritual baths) as well as an impressive water collecting system and water cisterns. In addition working areas have been identified – ovens for cooking, kilns for burning pottery, a wine press.

The site gives an impressive view over the Dead Sea, the cliffs of the Judean Desert, as well as the adjoining plateau with two of the caves (4 and 5).

When first discovered it was often referred to as a monastary. However, that is impossible, as the people who lived there, the Essenes, believed their leader to be the rightful High Priest, who must be a descendent of Zadok, the High Priest at the time of David. Without women this could not be, even today.

Because of this belief the Essenes may also be the Zadokites, a group known from the above-mentioned writings.

A visit to Qumran will open up understanding of the last century BCE and first century CE. It is a glimpse into a very different time and an extreme life style even for its time.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The Dead Sea Scrolls have been called the greatest biblical archeological find of the 20th century.

The scrolls were placed in caves at Qumran on the northwest shores of the Dead Sea, where they lay hidden in the hot, dry air for almost 2000 years, until they were accidentally discovered by a Bedouin.

Since the first scroll came to light in 1947, a total of 11 complete scrolls and some 15.000 fragments have come to light. Almost all of them are under the protection of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

Despite their age and the climate of where they were hidden, it is amazing that we even have this much. But they are fragile, and are kept in special vaults of the Israel Museum. This makes the reading and interpretation extremely difficult.

Of course no one uses the original when studying these ancient biblical and sectarian texts. Already back in the 1950′s they were photographed with infrared technology, and eventually published, so that any scholar who so desires can study them.

Now a new project has begun to digitally produce the Dead Sea Scrolls, using the state of the art digital and infrared photography. Experts from the world are involved in this important project. Through the use of powerful cameras that produce no heat and ultraviolet light that would damage the fragile scrolls, scientists have been able to decipher sections and letters invisible to the naked eye.

Till now some 4000 digital images have been created. The project is estimated to take five years. All images will eventually be placed in an internet data bank.

For the full article in Ha’aretz on line edition.