The Dead Sea Scrolls are ancient manuscripts that were discovered in caves along the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, the lowest spot on earth.

The Dead Sea from Qumran

The scrolls were found in limestone cliffs, and in marl caves.

These caves are found in the Qumran plateau located at the Wadi Qumran.

They are:A collection of 931 documentsOldest copies of the Old Testament

Jewish sectarian writingsComposed in Hebrew,

Aramaic, and GreekProduced between

250 BC and AD 68Hidden in Judean desert

caves before AD 68 Scroll Jar

In the 1940’s, shepherds of the Ta’amirah Bedouin tribe were tending their goat herds in the Judean desert.

There, shepherds stumbled upon caves containing the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Scroll From Cave 1

Ta’amireh shepherd Muhammed al-Asi (pictured right) was part of the group of Bedouin who searched for a lost goat in the 1940’s.

The Bedouin threw a rock into an upper cave opening to scare the goat out of the cave; he heard the sound of breaking pottery.