Qumran

Remains of settlement from the Second Temple period, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Located near the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea. Two Bedouin shepherds accidentally came across a clay jar in a cave that contained the world renowned parchment scrolls. Some consider Qumran to be the site of the biblical City of Salt (Josh 15:22). It was destroyed by the Babylonias and resettled by the Essene sct who came here in the second century BCE. This small sect functioned as an ascetic cooperative community, rejected established Temple rituals, and, among other activities, engaged in writing and copying holy manuscripts.

Some experts consider the Essenes to be the forerunners of Christianity. During the Revolt against Rome some Essenes joined the insurgents. When the Roman army approached Qumran in 68 CE, the inhabitants hid their holy writings in the caves of Wadi Qumran to the west. Some of these writings were discovered in 1947 and have been named the Dead Sea Scrolls. Coins show the place was again inhabited from 132 to 135 CE by Bar Kokhba’s fighters, before being deserted forever.

The ruined settlement was excavated and restored and one can now see remains of a tower, interconnected buildings, an assembly hall, scriptorium, refectory, water reservoirs, ritual baths, storerooms and pottery workshops. Wester of the settlement, outside the fence, is an extensive cemetery. The Quran caves contained many manuscripts including the Great Isaiah Scroll (7 meters long) and the so-called Second Isaiah Scroll, Thanksgiving Scroll, the Community Rule (Manual of Discipline), Habakkuk Commentary, and the War Scroll. Most of the scrolls, dating from the 1st century CE, are now on display in the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem.