Qumran

“The Dead Sea Scrolls are undoubtedly the most important discovery found in Israel in the field of the Bible and history of Judaism and Christianity” (Yigael Yadin). Fragments of about nine hundred different scrolls from the Second Temple period were discovered in eleven caves at Qumran between 1947 and 1956. The first scrolls from Qumran were found in 1947 by two Bedouin shepherds of the Ta’amireh tribe. The core area of the Qumran settlement site has been preserved and adjacent to it is the visitors’ center of the Qumran National Park.

The members of the Yahad community, today known as the Qumran sect, were Jews who left Jerusalem and went to live in Qumran on the western shore of the Dead Sea. They developed a unique philosophy and a strict life regimen.

No one is better qualifed than Hanan Eshel, with his vast experience in the field, wide historical knowledge and superb scholarship, to tell the full story of Qumran.