View source for Dead Sea Scrolls

{{Short description|Ancient Jewish manuscripts}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=March 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Pp|small=yes}}
{{Infobox artefact
| name           = Dead Sea Scrolls
| image          = Psalms Scroll (cropped).jpg
| image_size     = 260
| image2=
| image_caption  = The [[Great Psalms Scroll]] (11Q5), one of the 981 texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls
| material       = Parchment, papyrus, and copper
| size=
| writing        = Mostly [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], but also [[Aramaic]] and [[Greek language|Greek]] at Qumran; [[Latin]] and [[Arabic]] elsewhere 
| created        = {{circa|3rd century BCE – 1st century CE}} (Qumran)
| discovered     = 1946/1947–1956
| location       = [[Israel Museum]], Jerusalem<br />[[The Jordan Museum|Jordan Museum]], Amman
|native_name_lang= he
|period1         = [[Second Temple period]]
|culture         = [[Second Temple Judaism|Jewish]]
|place           = [[Qumran Caves]] near [[Ein Feshkha]]<br />
Other Judaean Desert sites
}}
{{Jewish culture}}
{{Bible related}}

The '''Dead Sea Scrolls''', in the narrow sense identical with the '''Qumran Caves Scrolls''', are a set of [[List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts|ancient Jewish manuscripts]] from the [[Second Temple period]]. They were discovered over a period of ten years, between 1946 and 1956, at the [[Qumran Caves]] near [[Ein Feshkha]] in the [[West Bank]], on the northern shore of the [[Dead Sea]]. Dating from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE,{{r|Israel Museum Jerusalem}} the Dead Sea Scrolls include the oldest surviving manuscripts of entire books later included in the [[biblical canon]]s, including [[Deuterocanonical books| deuterocanonical manuscripts]] from late [[Second Temple Judaism]] and extrabiblical books. At the same time, they cast new light on the emergence of [[Christianity]] and of [[Rabbinic Judaism]].<ref name= DSS>{{cite web |title=Dead Sea Scrolls {{!}} Definition, Discovery, History, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dead-Sea-Scrolls |access-date=17 November 2021 |website=www.britannica.com}}</ref> In the wider sense, the Dead Sea Scrolls also include similar findings from elsewhere in the [[Judaean Desert]], of which some are from later centuries. Almost all of the 15,000 scrolls and scroll fragments are held in the [[Shrine of the Book]] at the [[Israel Museum]] located in [[Jerusalem]].

The Israeli government's custody of the Dead Sea Scrolls is disputed by [[Jordan]] and the [[Palestinian National Authority|Palestinian Authority]] on territorial, legal, and humanitarian grounds—they were mostly discovered following the [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank]] and were acquired by [[Israel]] after Jordan lost the [[Six-Day War|1967 Arab–Israeli War]]<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Mordechay |last1=Lash |first2=Yossi |last2=Goldstein |first3=Itzhaq |last3=Shai |title=Underground-Archaeological Research in the West Bank, 1947–1968: Management, Complexity, and Israeli Involvement |journal=Bulletin of the History of Archaeology |volume=30 |year=2020 | s2cid=229403120 |doi=10.5334/bha-650 |doi-access=free |issn = 1062-4740 }}</ref>—whilst Israel's claims are primarily based on historical and religious grounds, given their significance in [[Jewish history]] and in the heritage of [[Judaism]].<ref>{{cite book |first1=Bernard |last1=Duhaime | first2=Camille |last2=Labadie |title=Canada's Public Diplomacy |series=Palgrave Macmillan Series in Global Public Diplomacy |chapter=Intersections and Cultural Exchange: Archaeology, Culture, International Law and the Legal Travels of the Dead Sea Scrolls |page=146 |year= 2020 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |location=Cham |isbn=978-3-319-62014-5 |issn=2731-3883 | doi=10.1007/978-3-319-62015-2_6 |s2cid=236757632 |quote=Thus, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan base their claims on territorial aspects (places of discovery of the scrolls), humanitarian (illegal deprivation following the occupation of East Jerusalem by Israel) and legal (they claim to have proof of purchase of several scrolls) while, for its part, Israel's claims are primarily based in religious notions, invoking the sacred history of the Jewish people and recalling that the scrolls discovered in Qumran are, for the majority, the oldest known copies of biblical texts and are therefore of fundamental importance for the historical and religious heritage of Judaism.}}</ref>

Many thousands of written fragments have been discovered in the Dead Sea area – most have been published, together with the details of their discovery, in the 40-volume ''[[Discoveries in the Judaean Desert]]''. They represent the remnants of larger manuscripts damaged by natural causes or through human interference, with the vast majority holding only small scraps of text. However, a small number of well-preserved and nearly intact manuscripts have survived—fewer than a dozen among those from the Qumran Caves.<ref name="Israel Museum Jerusalem">{{cite web | title=The Digital Dead Sea Scrolls: Nature and Significance | url=http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/significance | publisher=Israel Museum Jerusalem | access-date=4 November 2023}}</ref> Researchers have assembled a collection of 981 different manuscripts (discovered in 1946/1947 and in 1956) from 11 caves,<ref name="The Hebrew University of Jerusalem">{{cite web | title=Hebrew University Archaeologists Find 12th Dead Sea Scrolls Cave | url=https://new.huji.ac.il/en/article/33424 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602100949/http://new.huji.ac.il/en/article/33424 | archive-date=2 June 2017 | access-date=7 June 2017 | publisher=The Hebrew University of Jerusalem}}</ref> which lie in the immediate vicinity of the [[Hellenistic Judaism|Hellenistic Jewish]] settlement at the site of [[Qumran|Khirbet Qumran]] in the eastern [[Judaean Desert]] in the West Bank.<ref>{{cite web|last=Donahue|first=Michelle Z.|date=10 February 2017|title=New Dead Sea Scroll Find May Help Detect Forgeries|url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/02/dead-sea-scrolls-cave-discovered-judea-israel-west-bank-forgeries/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615083440/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/02/dead-sea-scrolls-cave-discovered-judea-israel-west-bank-forgeries/|archive-date=15 June 2018|access-date=19 November 2017|website=nationalgeographic.com}}</ref> The caves are located about {{convert|1.5|km|mi|0|abbr=}} west of the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, whence the scrolls derive their name. Archaeologists have long associated the scrolls with the ancient [[Jewish religious movements|Jewish sect]] known as the [[Essenes]], although some recent interpretations have challenged this connection and argue that [[Sons of Zadok|priests in Jerusalem]] or other unknown Jewish groups wrote the scrolls.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ofri|first=Ilani|date=13 March 2009|title=Scholar: The Essenes, Dead Sea Scroll 'authors,' never existed|work=Ha'aretz|url=https://www.haaretz.com/scholar-the-essenes-dead-sea-scroll-authors-never-existed-1.272034|access-date=26 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106121620/https://www.haaretz.com/scholar-the-essenes-dead-sea-scroll-authors-never-existed-1.272034|archive-date=6 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="golb-2009">{{cite web|last=Golb|first=Norman|author-link=Norman Golb|date=5 June 2009|title=On the Jerusalem Origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls|url=http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/jerusalem_origin_dss.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610094416/http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/jerusalem_origin_dss.pdf|archive-date=10 June 2010|access-date=11 May 2010|publisher=[[University of Chicago Oriental Institute]]}}</ref>

Most of the manuscripts are written in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], with some written in [[Aramaic]] (for example the [[4Q246|Son of God Text]], in different regional dialects, including [[Nabataean Aramaic|Nabataean]]) and a few in [[Koine Greek|Greek]].<ref>{{cite book | first1=Geza | last1=Vermes | title=The Dead Sea Scrolls. Qumran in Perspective | page=15 | year=1977 | publisher=Collins | location=London | isbn=978-0-00-216142-8}}</ref> Other discoveries from the Judaean Desert add [[Latin]] (from [[Masada]]), and some later [[Arabic]] manuscripts from the 7th-8th centuries CE (from [[Hyrcania (fortress)|Khirbet al-Mird]]).<ref>{{cite web | title=Languages and Scripts | url=https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/languages-and-scripts | access-date=18 December 2024 | publisher=Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library}}</ref> Most of the texts are written on [[parchment]], some on [[papyrus]], and [[Copper Scroll|one on copper]].<ref>{{cite news | first=Rory | last=McCarthy | title=From papyrus to cyberspace | newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/aug/27/israel | date=27 August 2008 | url-status=live | access-date=17 December 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222091723/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/aug/27/israel | archive-date=22 December 2016}}</ref> Though scholarly consensus dates the Dead Sea Scrolls to between the 3rd century BCE and the 1st century CE,<ref name="DSSDL-Intro">{{cite web | title=The Digital Library: Introduction | url= https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/introduction | publisher=Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library | access-date=1 November 2023}}</ref> there are Arabic manuscripts from associated Judaean Desert sites that are dated between the 8th and 10th century CE.{{r|DSSDL-Intro}} Bronze coins found at the same sites form a series beginning with [[John Hyrcanus]], a ruler of the [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean Kingdom]] (in office 135–104&nbsp;BCE), and continuing until the period of the [[First Jewish–Roman War]] (66–73 CE), supporting the [[Palaeography|paleography]] and [[radiocarbon dating]] of the scrolls.<ref>Leaney, A.R.C. ''From Judaean Caves: The Story of the Dead Sea Scrolls.'' p. 27, Religious Education Press, 1961. {{ISBN?}}</ref>

Owing to the poor condition of some of the scrolls, scholars have not identified all of their texts. The identified texts fall into three general groups:
# About 40% are copies of texts from [[Hebrew Bible|Hebrew scriptures]].
# Approximately 30% are texts from the Second Temple period that ultimately were not canonized in the Hebrew Bible, such as the [[Book of Enoch]], the [[Book of Jubilees]], the [[Book of Tobit]], the [[Book of Sirach|Wisdom of Sirach]], [[Psalms 152–155]], etc.
# The remainder (roughly 30%) are sectarian manuscripts of previously unknown documents that shed light on the rules and beliefs of a particular sect or groups within greater Judaism, such as the [[Community Rule]], the [[War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness|War Scroll]], the [[Habakkuk Commentary|Pesher on Habakkuk]], and [[The Rule of the Blessing]].<ref name="DSS-Bible">{{Cite book | first1=Martin | last1=Abegg, Jr. | first2=Peter | last2=Flint | first3=Eugene | last3=Ulrich | author-link3=Eugene Ulrich |  title=The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible: The Oldest Known Bible Translated for the First Time into English | pages=xiv–xvii | year=2002 | publisher=Harper | location=San Francisco | isbn=0-06-060064-0 | url=https://archive.org/details/B-001-001-932 | access-date=24 November 2023}}</ref>

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==Discovery==
[[File:Kumeran4.jpg|thumb|Caves at Qumran]]
[[File:Qumran.jpeg|thumb|right|Qumran cave 4, where ninety per cent of the scrolls were found]]

The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in a series of 12 caves around the site originally known as [[Ein Feshkha]] near the [[Dead Sea]] in the [[West Bank]] (then [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|controlled by Jordan]]) between 1946 and 1956 by [[Bedouin]] shepherds and a team of archaeologists.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://virtualreligion.net/iho/dss.html#ASOR|title=Dead Sea Scrolls|publisher=virtualreligion.net|access-date=25 January 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050205180008/http://virtualreligion.net/iho/dss.html#ASOR|archive-date=5 February 2005|url-status=live}}</ref> The practice of storing worn-out sacred manuscripts in earthenware vessels buried in the earth or within caves is related to the ancient Jewish custom of [[genizah]].

===Initial discovery (1946–1947)===
The initial discovery by Bedouin shepherd Muhammed edh-Dhib, his cousin Jum'a Muhammed, and Khalil Musa took place between November 1946 and February 1947.<ref>Humphries, Mark. ''[http://dl4a.org/uploads/pdf/Early%20Christianity.pdf Early Christianity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214110659/http://dl4a.org/uploads/pdf/Early%20Christianity.pdf |date=14 February 2019}}''. 2006.</ref><ref name="Evans-Guide">{{Cite book | first=Craig A. | last=Evans | title=Holman's Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls | year=2010 | publisher=Holmans | location=Nashville | isbn=978-0-8054-4852-8}}</ref> The shepherds discovered seven scrolls {{crossreference|(see {{slink||Caves and their contents}})}} housed in jars in a cave near what is now known as the [[Qumran]] site. [[John C. Trever]] reconstructed the story of the scrolls from several interviews with the Bedouins. Edh-Dhib's cousin noticed the caves, but edh-Dhib was the first to actually fall into one (the cave now called Cave 1). He retrieved a handful of scrolls, which Trever identifies as the [[Isaiah Scroll]], [[Habakkuk Commentary]], and the [[Community Rule]], and took them back to the camp to show to his family. None of the scrolls were destroyed in this process.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite book | last=Trever | first=John C. | title=The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Personal Account | year=2003 | publisher=Gorgias Press LLC | location=Piscataway | isbn=978-1-59333-042-2}}</ref> The Bedouins kept the scrolls hanging on a tent pole while they contemplated what they should do with them, periodically showing the scrolls to their people. At some point during this time, the Community Rule was split in two. The Bedouins first took the scrolls to a dealer named Ibrahim 'Ijha in [[Bethlehem]]. 'Ijha returned them, saying they were worthless, after being warned that they might have been stolen from a synagogue. Undaunted, the Bedouins went to a nearby market, where a Syrian Christian offered to buy them. A sheikh joined their conversation and suggested that they take the scrolls to Khalil Eskander Shahin, "Kando", a cobbler and part-time antiques dealer. The Bedouins and the dealers returned to the site, leaving one scroll with Kando and selling three others to a dealer for seven [[Palestine pound|Jordanian pounds]] (approximately $28, or ${{inflation|US|28|1947}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars).{{r|ReferenceA}}<ref name="VanderKamFlint2005">{{cite book|first1=James|last1=VanderKam|first2=Peter|last2=Flint|title=The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Their Significance For Understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and Christianity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SBMXnB4CRpUC|access-date=15 March 2013|year=2005|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-567-08468-2|page=5|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009053317/http://books.google.com/books?id=SBMXnB4CRpUC|archive-date=9 October 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> The original scrolls continued to change hands after the Bedouins left them in the possession of a third party until a sale could be arranged. {{See below|[[#Ownership|Ownership]].}}

In 1947 the original seven scrolls caught the attention of Trever of the [[American Schools of Oriental Research]] (ASOR), who compared the script in the scrolls to the [[Nash Papyrus]], the oldest biblical manuscript then known, and found similarities between them. In March the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]] prompted the move of some of the scrolls to [[Beirut]], Lebanon, for safekeeping. On 11 April 1948, [[Millar Burrows]], head of the ASOR, announced the discovery of the scrolls in a general press release.

===Search for the Qumran caves (1948–1949)===
Early in September 1948, Metropolitan bishop [[Mar Samuel]] brought some additional scroll fragments that he had acquired to professor [[Ovid R. Sellers]], the succeeding director of ASOR. By the end of 1948, nearly two years after the discovery of the scrolls, scholars had yet to locate the original cave where the fragments had been found. With unrest in the country at that time, no large-scale search could be safely undertaken. Sellers tried to persuade the [[Syrian people|Syrians]] to assist in the search for the cave, but he was unable to pay their price. In early 1949, the government of Jordan granted permission to the [[Arab Legion]] to search the area in which the original Qumran cave was believed to exist. Consequently, Cave 1 was rediscovered on 28 January 1949 by Belgian [[United Nations]] [[United Nations Truce Supervision Organization|observer]] captain Phillipe Lippens and Arab Legion captain Akkash el-Zebn.<ref name="biblicaltheology.com"/>

===Qumran caves rediscovery and new scroll discoveries (1949–1951)===
[[File:Jericho and Dead Sea area and River Jordan. Qumran, caves where Dead Sea scrolls were found. Dead Sea in distance LOC matpc.22897 (cropped and level adjusted).jpg|thumb|right|A view of the Dead Sea from a cave at Qumran in which some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered]]

The rediscovery of what became known as Cave 1 at Qumran prompted the initial excavation of the site from 15 February to 5 March 1949 by the Jordanian [[Department of Antiquities (Jordan)|Department of Antiquities]], led by [[Gerald Lankester Harding]] and [[Roland de Vaux]].{{r|Vanderkam}}{{rp|9}} The Cave 1 site yielded discoveries of additional Dead Sea Scroll fragments, linen cloth, jars, and other artefacts.<ref name="biblicaltheology.com">{{cite web |author=S.S.L. Frantisek Trstensky |url=http://www.biblicaltheology.com/Research/TrstenskyF01.pdf |title=The Archaeological Site of Qumran and the Personality of Roland De Vaux |access-date=22 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326092939/http://biblicaltheology.com/Research/TrstenskyF01.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2013 }}</ref>

===Excavations of Qumran and new cave discoveries (1951–1956, 2017, 2021)===
In November 1951, de Vaux and his team from the ASOR began a full excavation of Qumran.<ref name="gnosis.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.gnosis.org/library/dss/dss_timeline.htm |title=Dead Sea Scrolls: Timetable |publisher=The Gnostic Society Library |access-date=23 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030816214926/http://www.gnosis.org/library/dss/dss_timeline.htm |archive-date=16 August 2003 }}</ref> By February 1952, the Bedouins had discovered 30 fragments in what was to be designated Cave 2.<ref name="Vanderkam">{{Cite book | last=VanderKam | first=James C. | title=The Dead Sea Scrolls Today | pages=10–11 | year=1994 | publisher=Eerdmans | location=Grand Rapids | isbn=978-0-8028-0736-6}}</ref> The discovery of a second cave eventually yielded 300 fragments from 33 manuscripts, including fragments of [[Book of Jubilees|Jubilees]] and the [[Wisdom of Sirach]] written in Hebrew.{{r|biblicaltheology.com|gnosis.org}} The following month, on 14 March 1952, the ASOR team discovered a third cave with fragments of Jubilees and the [[Copper Scroll]].{{r|Vanderkam}} Between September and December 1952, the fragments and scrolls of Caves 4, 5, and 6 were discovered by the ASOR teams.{{r|gnosis.org}}

With the monetary value of the scrolls rising as their historical significance was made more public, the Bedouins and the ASOR archaeologists accelerated their search for the scrolls separately in the same general area of Qumran, which was more than one kilometre in length. Between 1953 and 1956, de Vaux led four more archaeological expeditions in the area to uncover scrolls and artefacts.{{r|biblicaltheology.com}} Cave 11 was discovered in 1956 and yielded the last fragments to be found in the vicinity of Qumran.<ref>{{cite web | title=Digital Dead Sea Scrolls at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem – Discovery | url=http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/discovery | access-date=4 November 2023}}</ref>

Caves 4–10 are clustered in an area lying in relative proximity {{convert|160|yards|m|abbr=on|disp=flip}} from Khirbet Qumran, while caves 1, 2, 3 and 11 are located 1 mile (1–2 kilometres) north, with Cave 3 the most remote.<ref name="LibAnn">{{cite journal|title=Qumran in the Second Temple Period: Reassessing the Archaeological Evidence. |author=Yizhar Hirschfeld |journal=Liber Annuus |date=2002 |volume=52 |pages=279–281 |quote=Some of these caves, such as 4 and 5, are located ca. 160 yd from the site, while others, such as 1, 2, 3 and 11, are at a distance of 1 mile to its north (Fig. 12) |url=http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/sbf/Books/LA52/LA52247Hirschfeld_Qumran.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060517184932/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/sbf/Books/LA52/LA52247Hirschfeld_Qumran.pdf |archive-date=17 May 2006 |access-date=23 January 2016 |author-link=Yizhar Hirschfeld }}</ref><ref>Martinez/Tigchelaar (1999). [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7xcvitgyGmgU0sxOVV3SXVBZTQ/view?usp=sharing The Dead Sea Scrolls Edition], Caves 1 to 11 & more (Enoch Aramaic fragments and translation by Milik: Hénoc au pays des aromates, pp. 413, 425, 430)</ref> In February 2017, Hebrew University archaeologists announced the discovery of a new 12th cave.<ref name="Q12_2017">{{cite press release|url=http://new.huji.ac.il/en/article/33424|title=Hebrew University Archaeologists Find 12th Dead Sea Scrolls Cave|publisher=Hebrew University of Jerusalem|date=8 February 2017|access-date=9 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209094500/http://new.huji.ac.il/en/article/33424|archive-date=9 February 2017}}</ref> There was one blank parchment found in a jar, but broken and empty scroll jars and pickaxes suggest that the cave was looted in the 1950s.<ref name="McKernan">{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/new-dead-sea-scrolls-cave-discovered-archaelogists-artefacts-2000-year-old-antiquities-west-bank-a7571696.html|title=New Dead Sea Scrolls cave filled with ancient artefacts discovered for first time in 60 years|work=The Independent|last1=McKernan|first1=Bethan|year=2017|access-date=2 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115211657/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/new-dead-sea-scrolls-cave-discovered-archaelogists-artefacts-2000-year-old-antiquities-west-bank-a7571696.html|archive-date=15 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

In March 2021, Israeli archaeologists announced the discovery of dozens of fragments bearing biblical text, written in Greek, from the books of [[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]] and [[Book of Nahum|Nahum]]. This group of findings is believed to have been hidden in a cave between 132 and 136 CE during the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]].<ref name="Associated Press">{{Cite web |last=Zion |first=Ilan |date=16 March 2021 |title=Israeli experts announce discovery of more Dead Sea scrolls |url=https://apnews.com/article/new-dead-sea-scrolls-israel-19844d3eb208190914182e78d9d79aac |access-date=16 March 2021 |website=APNews}}</ref> However, a 10,500-year-old basket made of woven [[Reed (plant)|reeds]] was also discovered in the [[Wadi Murabba'at|Muraba'at caves]] in the Nahal Darga Reserve. Other discoveries included the remains of a child wrapped in cloth dated to around 6,000 years ago, and a cache of coins from the days of the Bar Kochba revolt.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-israel-finds-new-dead-sea-scroll-first-such-discovery-in-60-years-1.9621317 |title=Israel Finds New Dead Sea Scrolls, First Such Discovery in 60 Years |website=Haaretz |date=16 March 2021 }}</ref> In 2021, more scrolls were discovered by Israeli authorities in a different cave near the Dead Sea called the [[Cave of Horrors]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kershner|first=Isabel|date=16 March 2021|title=Israel Reveals Newly Discovered Fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/world/middleeast/dead-sea-scrolls-israel.html|access-date=2 April 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Newly discovered fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls reveal hidden ancient Bible texts|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/dead-sea-scrolls-discoveries-are-first-ancient-bible-texts-be-n1261182|access-date=2 April 2021|website=NBC News|date=18 March 2021}}</ref>

==Caves and their contents==
{{For|a full list of the scrolls from each individual cave|List of the Dead Sea Scrolls}}[[File:Great Isaiah Scroll.jpg|thumb|The [[Isaiah Scroll]] (1QIsa<sup>a</sup>) contains almost the whole [[Book of Isaiah]].]]

The 972 manuscripts found at Qumran were found primarily in two separate formats: as [[scroll]]s and as fragments of previous scrolls and texts. In the fourth cave the fragments were torn into up to 15,000 pieces. These small fragments created somewhat of a problem for scholars. G.L. Harding, director of the Jordanian Department of Antiquities, began working on piecing the fragments together but did not finish this before his death in 1979.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wise |first1=Michael |url=https://archive.org/details/deadseascrollsne00wise |title=The Dead Sea Scrolls |last2=Abegg Jr. |first2=Martin |last3=Cook |first3=Edward |publisher=Harper San Francisco |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-06-076662-7 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/deadseascrollsne00wise/page/n26 5] |url-access=registration}} | [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7xcvitgyGmgamt2dVRoX3dHdGM/view '''Les manuscrits de la Mer Morte''' avec textes originaux traduits en français par I. Fortunato)].</ref>

; Cave 1
Wadi Qumran Cave 1 was discovered for the first time in 1946. The original seven Dead Sea Scrolls from Cave 1 are the [[Isaiah scroll|Great Isaiah Scroll]] (1QIsa{{sup|a}}), a second copy of Isaiah ([[1QIsab|1QIsa{{sup|b}}]]), the [[Community Rule]] Scroll (1QS), the [[Habakkuk Commentary|Pesher on Habakkuk]] (1QpHab), the [[War Scroll]] (1QM), the [[Thanksgiving Hymns]] (1QH), and the [[Genesis Apocryphon]] (1QapGen).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vermes |first=Geza |title=The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English |publisher=Penguin |year=1998 |isbn=0-14-024501-4 |location=London, England |author-link=Geza Vermes}}</ref> One of the pottery jars containing the scrolls from Cave 1 is now kept in the [[British Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1951-1110-1|title=jar &#124; British Museum}}</ref>

; Cave 2
Wadi Qumran Cave 2 was discovered in February 1952 in which the Bedouins discovered 30 fragments.{{r|Vanderkam}} The cave eventually yielded 300 fragments from 33 manuscripts of Dead Sea Scrolls, including fragments of Jubilees and the Wisdom of Sirach written in Hebrew.<ref>{{cite web | author=S.S.L. Frantisek Trstensky | title=The Archaeological Site Of Qumran and the Personality Of Roland De Vaux | url=http://www.biblicaltheology.com/Research/TrstenskyF01.pdf | access-date=22 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Dead Sea Scrolls: Timetable | publisher=The Gnostic Society Library | url=http://www.gnosis.org/library/dss/dss_timeline.htm | access-date=23 May 2012}}</ref>

; Cave 3
Wadi Qumran Cave 3 was discovered on 14 March 1952 by the ASOR team. The cave initially yielded fragments of Jubilees and the Copper Scroll.{{r|Vanderkam}}{{rp|10–11}}

; Caves 4a and 4b
[[File:The Damascus Document Scroll.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Damascus Document]] Scroll, 4Q271D<sup>f</sup>, found in Cave 4]]
[[File:Genesis 1 Dead Sea Scroll.jpg|thumb|right|4Q7, a fragment of the book of Genesis found in Cave 4]]

Wadi Qumran Cave 4 was discovered in August 1952 and was excavated from 22 to 29 September 1952 by Harding, de Vaux, and [[Józef Milik]].<ref>Milik (1957). "Dix ans de découverte dans le désert de Juda" | ''Discoveries in the Judaean Desert''; Milik (1976). ''The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments Qumran Cave 4'' with the collaboration of Black M.</ref>{{r|Vanderkam}}{{rp|10–11}} Cave 4 is actually two hand-cut caves (4a and 4b), but since the fragments were mixed they are labelled as 4Q. Cave 4 is the most famous of Qumran caves both because of its visibility from the Qumran plateau and its productivity. It is visible from the plateau to the south of the Qumran settlement. It is by far the most productive of all Qumran caves, producing 90% of the Dead Sea Scrolls and scroll fragments (approx. 15,000 fragments from 500 different texts), including 9–10 copies of Jubilees, along with 21 ''[[tefillin]]'' and 7 ''[[Mezuzah|mezuzot]]''.

; Cave 5
Wadi Qumran Cave 5 was discovered in 1952, shortly after the discovery of Cave 4. Cave 5 produced approximately 25 manuscripts.{{r|Vanderkam}}

; Cave 6
Wadi Qumran Cave 6 was discovered alongside Cave 5 in 1952, shortly after the discovery of Cave 4. Cave 6 contained fragments of about 31 manuscripts.{{r|Vanderkam}}

; Cave 7
[[File:7Q4.png|thumb|right|Dead Sea Scroll fragments 7Q4, [[7Q5]], and 7Q8 from Cave 7 in Qumran, written on papyrus]]

Wadi Qumran Cave 7 yielded fewer than 20 fragments of Greek documents, including 7Q2 (the "[[Letter of Jeremiah]]" = [[Baruch (Bible)|Baruch]] 6), [[7Q5]] (which became the subject of much speculation in later decades), and a Greek copy of a scroll of Enoch.<ref>Baillet, Maurice ed. L''es 'Petites Grottes' de Qumrân'' (ed., vol. 3 of Discoveries in the Judaean Desert; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1962), 144–145, pl. XXX.</ref><ref>Muro, Ernest A., "The Greek Fragments of Enoch from Qumran Cave 7 (7Q4, 7Q8, &7Q12 = 7QEn gr = Enoch 103:3–4, 7–8)," ''Revue de Qumran'' 18 no. 70 (1997).</ref><ref>Puech, Émile, "Sept fragments grecs de la Lettre d'Hénoch (1 Hén 100, 103, 105) dans la grotte 7 de Qumrân (= 7QHén gr)," ''Revue de Qumran'' 18 no. 70 (1997).</ref> Cave 7 also produced several inscribed potsherds and jars.<ref name="ReferenceB">Humbert and Chambon, ''Excavations of Khirbet Qumran and Ain Feshkha'', 67.</ref><ref name="Garcia Martinez 1999">{{Cite book |last1=Martinez |first1=Florentino Garcia |title=The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition |last2=Tigchelaar |first2=Eibert J.C. |publisher=Eerdmans |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-8028-4493-4 |volume=1 |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan}}</ref><ref name="Fitzmyer">{{Cite book | first=Joseph A. | last=Fitzmyer | title=A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature | pages=104, 109 | year=2008 | publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company | location=Grand Rapids, MI | isbn=978-0-8028-6241-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TILXeWJ2eNAC | access-date=9 March 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115180557/https://books.google.com/books/about/A_Guide_to_the_Dead_Sea_Scrolls_and_Rela.html?id=TILXeWJ2eNAC | archive-date=15 November 2016 | url-status = live}}</ref>{{rp|104, 109}}

; Cave 8

Wadi Qumran Cave 8, along with caves 7 and 9, is one of the only caves that are accessible by passing through the settlement at Qumran. Carved into the southern end of the Qumran plateau, cave 8 was excavated by archaeologists in 1957. Cave 8 produced five fragments: Genesis (8QGen), Psalms (8QPs), a tefillin fragment (8QPhyl), a mezuzah (8QMez), and a hymn (8QHymn).<ref>Baillet ed. L''es 'Petites Grottes' de Qumrân'' (ed.), 147–162, pl. XXXIXXXV.</ref> Cave 8 also produced several tefillin cases, a box of leather objects, many lamps, jars, and the sole of a leather shoe.{{r|ReferenceB|Garcia Martinez 1999|Fitzmyer}}

; Cave 9
Wadi Qumran Cave 9, along with caves 7 and 8, was one of the only caves that are accessible by passing through the settlement at Qumran. Carved into the southern end of the Qumran plateau, Cave 9 was excavated by archaeologists in 1957. There was only one manuscript fragment found in Cave 9.

; Cave 10
In Qumran Cave 10 archaeologists found two [[Ostracon|ostraca]] with writing on them, along with an unknown symbol on a grey stone slab.

; Cave 11
[[File:Temple Scroll.png|thumb|right|A view of part of the [[Temple Scroll]] that was found in Qumran Cave 11]]

Wadi Qumran Cave 11 was discovered in 1956 and yielded 21 texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls, some of which were quite lengthy. The [[Temple Scroll]], so called because more than half of it pertains to the construction of the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temple of Jerusalem]], was found in Cave 11 and is by far the longest scroll. It is 26.7&nbsp;feet (8.15&nbsp;m) long; its original length may have been over 28&nbsp;feet (8.75&nbsp;m). The Temple Scroll was regarded by scholar [[Yigael Yadin]] as "The Torah According to the Essenes". On the other hand, Hartmut Stegemann, a contemporary and friend of Yadin, believes the scroll was not to be regarded as such but was a document without exceptional significance. Stegemann notes that it is not mentioned or cited in any known Essene writing.<ref>Stegemann, Hartmut. "The Qumran Essenes: Local Members of the Main Jewish Union in Late Second Temple Times." pp. 83–166 in ''The Madrid Qumran Congress: Proceedings of the International Congress on the Dead Sea Scrolls, Madrid, 18–21 March 1991'', Edited by J. Trebolle Barrera and L. Vegas Montaner. Vol. 11 of Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah. Leiden: Brill, 1992. {{ISBN?}}</ref>

An [[eschatology|eschatological]] fragment about the biblical figure [[Melchizedek]] ([[11Q13]]) was found in Cave 11. Cave 11 also produced a copy of Jubilees, and a proto-Masoretic text of the [[Torah scroll]] (only a fragment of the [[Book of Leviticus]] surviving), known as the [[Paleo-Hebrew Leviticus Scroll]]. According to former chief editor of the Dead Sea Scrolls editorial team [[John Strugnell]], there are at least four privately owned scrolls from Cave 11 that have not yet been made available for scholars. Among them is a complete [[Aramaic Enoch Scroll|Aramaic manuscript of the Book of Enoch]].<ref>{{cite web | first=Hershel | last=Shanks | title=An Interview with John Strugnell | url=http://www.bib-arch.org/online-exclusives/dead-sea-scrolls-12.asp | work=Biblical Archaeology Review | date=July–August 1994 | access-date=21 October 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706065646/https://www.bib-arch.org/online-exclusives/dead-sea-scrolls-12.asp | archive-date=6 July 2010 }}</ref>

; Cave 12
Cave 12 was discovered in February 2017 on cliffs west of Qumran, near the north-western shore of the Dead Sea.{{r|Q12_2017}} Archaeological examination found pickaxes and empty broken scroll jars, indicating that the cave had been discovered and looted in the 1950s. One of the joint [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]] and [[Liberty University]] project's lead researchers, Oren Gutfeld, stated, "Although at the end of the day no scroll was found, and instead we 'only' found a piece of parchment rolled up in a jug that was being processed for writing, the findings indicate beyond any doubt that the cave contained scrolls that were stolen."{{r|McKernan}}

; Fragments with unknown provenance
Some fragments of scrolls have neither significant archaeological [[provenance]] nor records that reveal in which designated Qumran cave area they were found. They are believed to have come from Wadi Qumran caves but are just as likely to have come from other archaeological sites in the Judaean Desert area.<ref name="Grossman, Maxine 2010">Grossman, Maxine. ''Rediscovering the Dead Sea Scrolls''. pp.&nbsp;66–67. 2010.</ref> These fragments have therefore been designated to the temporary "X" series.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Fragment/Scroll # !! Fragment/Scroll Name !! KJV Bible Association !! Description
|-
| XQ1-3 || "Tefillin from Qumran" || [[Deuteronomy]] 5:1–6:3; 10:12–11:12.{{r|Grossman, Maxine 2010}} || First published in 1969; Phylacteries
|-
| XQ4 || "Tefillin from Qumran" || || Phylacteries
|-
| XQ5<sup>a</sup> || [[Book of Jubilees|Jubilees]] 7:4–5 || ||
|-
| XQ5<sup>b</sup> || Hymn || ||
|-
| XQ6 || Offering || || Small fragment with only one word in [[Aramaic]].
|-
| XQ7 || Unidentified fragment || || Strong possibility that it is part of 4QInstruction.
|-
| XQpapEn || [[Book of Enoch]] 9:1 || || One small fragment written in Hebrew. = XQ8
|}

===Gallery===
<gallery>
File:Dead Sea Scroll 175, complete, Testimonia, from Qumran Cave 4, the Jordan Museum in Amman.jpg|Dead Sea Scroll 175, complete, Testimonia, from Qumran Cave 4, the Jordan Museum in Amman
File:Dead Sea Scroll 28a from Qumran Cave 1, complete, the Jordan Museum in Amman.jpg|Dead Sea Scroll 28a from Qumran Cave 1, complete, the Jordan Museum in Amman
File:The War Scroll - Dead Sea Scroll.jpg|[[War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness|The War Scroll]], found in Qumran Cave 1.
File:1QIsa b.jpg|A portion of the second discovered copy of the [[Isaiah Scroll]], 1QIsa<sup>b</sup>.
File:Part of Dead Sea Scroll 28a from Qumran Cave 1. The Jordan Museum, Amman.jpg|Part of Dead Sea Scroll 28a from Qumran Cave 1. The Jordan Museum, Amman
File:Dead Sea Scroll, Pesher Isaiah, from Qumran Cave 4. The Jordan Museum, Amman.jpg|Dead Sea Scroll, Pesher Isaiah, from Qumran Cave 4. The Jordan Museum, Amman
File:Dead Sea Scroll 175, Testimonia, from Qumran Cave 4. The Jordan Museum, Amman.jpg|Dead Sea Scroll 175, Testimonia, from Qumran Cave 4. The Jordan Museum, Amman
File:Dead Sea Scroll 109, Qohelet or Ecclesiastes, from Qumran Cave 4. The Jordan Museum, Amman.jpg|Dead Sea Scroll 109, Qohelet or Ecclesiastes, from Qumran Cave 4. The Jordan Museum, Amman
File:Dear Sea Scrolls at the Jordan Museum in Amman.jpg|Dead Sea Scrolls at the Jordan Museum in Amman
File:The so-called Copper Dead Sea Scrolls at the Jordan Museum, from Qumran Cave 3, 1st century CE.jpg|Strips of the Copper Dead Sea Scroll at the Jordan Museum, from Qumran Cave 3, 1st century CE
File:Strip 11, part of the Copper Dear Sea Scrolls, from Qumran Cave 3, Jordan Museum.jpg|Strip 11 of the Copper Dead Sea Scroll, from Qumran Cave 3, Jordan Museum
File:Strip 15, part of the Copper Dear Sea Scrolls, from Qumran Cave 3, Jordan Museum.jpg|Strip 15 of the Copper Dead Sea Scroll, from Qumran Cave 3, Jordan Museum
File:Strip 13, part of the Copper Dear Sea Scrolls, from Qumran Cave 3, Jordan Museum.jpg|Strip 13 of the Copper Dead Sea Scroll, from Qumran Cave 3, Jordan Museum
File:Strips 1 and 2, parts of the Copper Dear Sea Scrolls, from Qumran Cave 3, Jordan Museum.jpg|Strips 1 and 2 of the Copper Dead Sea Scroll, from Qumran Cave 3, Jordan Museum
File:Dead Sea Scroll 109, Qohelet or Ecclesiastes, from Qumran Cave 4, the Jordan Museum in Amman.jpg|Dead Sea Scroll 109, Qohelet or Ecclesiastes, from Qumran Cave 4, the Jordan Museum in Amman
File:Dead Sea Scroll 109, Qohelet or Ecclesiastes, from Qumran Cave 4, at the Jordan Museum in Amman.jpg|Dead Sea Scroll 109, Qohelet or Ecclesiastes, from Qumran Cave 4, at the Jordan Museum in Amman
File:Dead Sea Scroll, Pesher Isaiah, from Qumran Cave 4, the Jordan Museum in Amman.jpg|Dead Sea Scroll, Pesher Isaiah, from Qumran Cave 4, the Jordan Museum in Amman
File:Dead Sea Scroll 175, Testimonia, from Qumran Cave 4, the Jordan Museum in Amman.jpg|Dead Sea Scroll 175, Testimonia, from Qumran Cave 4, the Jordan Museum in Amman
File:Detail, Dead Sea Scroll 175, Testimonia, from Qumran Cave 4, the Jordan Museum in Amman.jpg|Detail, Dead Sea Scroll 175, Testimonia, from Qumran Cave 4, the Jordan Museum in Amman
File:Dead Sea Scroll 28a from Qumran Cave 1, the Jordan Museum in Amman.jpg|Dead Sea Scroll 28a from Qumran Cave 1, the Jordan Museum in Amman
File:Part of Dead Sea Scroll 28a from Qumran Cave 1, the Jordan Museum in Amman.jpg|Part of Dead Sea Scroll 28a from Qumran Cave 1, the Jordan Museum in Amman
File:Part of Dead Sea Scroll 28a from Qumran Cave 1, at the Jordan Museum in Amman.jpg|Part of Dead Sea Scroll 28a from Qumran Cave 1, at the Jordan Museum in Amman
File:Psalm 23 Dead Sea Scrolls.jpg|Dead Sea Scroll fragment 5/6HEV PS found in the Cave of Letters at Nahal Hever
</gallery>

==Origin==
There has been much debate about the origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The dominant theory remains that the scrolls were produced by the Essenes, a sect of Jews living at nearby Qumran, but this theory has come to be challenged by several modern scholars.<ref>{{Cite thesis|url=http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7727/|title=The Qumran paradigm: A critical evaluation of some foundational hypotheses in the construction of the 'Qumran Sect.|last=De-Looijer|first=G. A. M.|publisher=PhD Thesis, Durham University|year=2013|pages=1–13|type=Doctoral|access-date=12 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728001717/http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7727/|archive-date=28 July 2018}}</ref>

===Qumran–Essene theory===
{{Main|Qumran-Essene hypothesis}}

The view among scholars, almost universally held until the 1990s, is the "Qumran–Essene" hypothesis originally posited by Roland Guérin de Vaux<ref>de Vaux, Roland, ''Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls'' (Schweich Lectures of the British Academy, 1959). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973.</ref> and Józef Tadeusz Milik,<ref>Milik, Józef Tadeusz, ''Ten Years of Discovery in the Wilderness of Judea'', London: SCM, 1959. {{ISBN?}}</ref> though independently both [[Eliezer Sukenik]] and Butrus Sowmy of [[Monastery of Saint Mark|St Mark's Monastery]] connected scrolls with the Essenes well before any excavations at Qumran.<ref>For Sowmy, see: Trever, John C., ''The Untold Story of Qumran'', (Westwood: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1965), p. 25. {{ISBN?}}</ref> The Qumran–Essene theory holds that the scrolls were written by the Essenes or by another Jewish sectarian group residing at Khirbet Qumran. They composed the scrolls and ultimately hid them in the nearby caves during the [[First Jewish–Roman War|Jewish Revolt]] sometime between 66 and 68&nbsp;CE. The site of Qumran was destroyed and the scrolls never recovered. Arguments supporting this theory include:
* There are striking similarities between the description of an initiation ceremony of new members in the Community Rule and descriptions of the Essene initiation ceremony mentioned in the works of Flavius [[Josephus]], a Jewish-Roman historian of the Second Temple period.
* Josephus mentioned the Essenes as sharing property among the members of the community, as does the Community Rule.
* During the excavation of Khirbet Qumran, two inkwells and plastered elements thought to be tables were found, offering evidence that some form of writing was done there. More inkwells were discovered nearby. De Vaux called this area the "[[scriptorium]]" based upon this discovery.
* Several Jewish [[Mikvah|ritual baths]] (Hebrew: {{Langx|he|מקוה|translit=miqvah|label=none}}) were discovered at Qumran, offering evidence of an observant [[Jew]]ish presence at the site.
* [[Pliny the Elder]] (a geographer writing after the fall of [[Jerusalem]] in 70&nbsp;CE) described a group of Essenes living in a desert community on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea near the ruined town of '[[Ein Gedi]].

===Qumran–Sectarian theory===
Qumran–Sectarian theories are variations on the Qumran–Essene theory. The main point of departure from the Qumran–Essene theory is hesitation to link the Dead Sea Scrolls specifically with the Essenes. Most proponents of the Qumran–Sectarian theory posit a group of Jews living in or near Qumran were responsible for the Dead Sea Scrolls but do not necessarily conclude that the sectarians were Essenes.

A specific variation on the Qumran–Sectarian theory emerged in the 1990s that has gained much recent popularity is the work of [[Lawrence Schiffman|Lawrence H. Schiffman]], who proposes that the community was led by a group of [[Sons of Zadok|Zadokite]] priests ([[Sadducees]]).<ref>Schiffman, Lawrence H., ''Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls: their True Meaning for Judaism and Christianity'', Anchor Bible Reference Library (Doubleday) 1995.</ref> The most important document in support of this view is the "Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah" ([[4QMMT]]), which cites purity laws (such as the transfer of impurities) identical to those attributed in rabbinic writings to the Sadducees. 4QMMT also reproduces a festival calendar that follows Sadducee principles for the dating of certain festival days.

===Christian origin theory===
{{See also| Christian–Essene origin theory}}
Spanish [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] [[José O'Callaghan Martínez]] argued in the 1960s that one fragment (7Q5) preserves a portion of text from the [[New Testament]] [[Gospel of Mark]] 6:52–53.<ref>O'Callaghan–Martínez, Josep, ''Cartas Cristianas Griegas del Siglo V'', Barcelona: E. Balmes, 1963.{{ISBN?}}{{page?|date=September 2024}}</ref> This theory was scrutinized in the year 2000 by [[Palaeography|paleographic]] analysis of the particular fragment. However, this faced some contention, and O'Callaghan's theory remains an area of great dispute. Later analyses in 2004 and 2018 lent credence to O'Callaghan's original assertion.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

[[Robert Eisenman]] has advanced the theory that some scrolls describe the [[Early Christianity|early Christian]] community. Eisenman also argues that the careers of [[James, brother of Jesus|James the Just]] and [[Paul the Apostle]] correspond to events recorded in some of these documents.<ref>Eisenman, Robert H. James, ''the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls''. 1st American ed. New York: Viking, 1997. {{ISBN?}}{{page?|date=September 2024}}</ref>

===Jerusalem origin theory===
Some scholars have argued that the scrolls were the product of Jews living in Jerusalem who hid the scrolls in the caves near Qumran while fleeing from the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] during the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|destruction of Jerusalem]] in 70&nbsp;CE.<ref>Chernoivanenko, Vitaly. "[http://history.ukma.edu.ua/docs/faculty/chernoivanenko/publications/chernoivanenko_jerusalem-theoryen.pdf The Jerusalem Theory of the Dead Sea Scrolls Authorship: Origins, Evolution, and Discussions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317215902/http://history.ukma.edu.ua/docs/faculty/chernoivanenko/publications/chernoivanenko_jerusalem-theoryen.pdf |date=17 March 2016 }}," in ''Ukrainian Orientalistics: Special Issue on Jewish Studies'', Кyiv: NaUKMA Omeljan Pritsak Center for Oriental Studies, 2011: 9–29.</ref> Karl Heinrich Rengstorf first proposed in the 1960s that the Dead Sea Scrolls originated at the library of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.<ref>Rengstorf, Karl Heinrich. ''Hirbet Qumran und die Bibliothek vom Toten Meer''. Translated by J.R. Wilkie. Stuttgart: [[Kohlhammer Verlag]], 1960.{{page?|date=September 2024}}{{ISBN?}}</ref> Later, [[Norman Golb]] suggested that the scrolls were the product of multiple libraries in Jerusalem and not necessarily the Jerusalem Temple library.<ref>Golb, Norman, "On the Jerusalem Origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls", University of Chicago Oriental Institute, 5 June 2009.</ref><ref>Golb, Norman, ''Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? The Search for the Secret of Qumran'', New York: Scribner, 1995.{{ISBN?}} {{page needed|date=September 2022}}</ref> Proponents of the Jerusalem origin theory point to the diversity of thought and handwriting among the scrolls as evidence against a Qumran origin of the scrolls. Several archaeologists have also accepted an origin of the scrolls other than Qumran, including [[Yizhar Hirschfeld]]<ref>Hirschfeld, Yizhar, ''Qumran in Context: Reassessing the Archaeological Evidence'', Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004. {{ISBN?}}{{page needed|date=September 2022}}</ref> and more recently Yizhak Magen and Yuval Peleg,<ref>{{cite web |first1=Magen |last1=Yizhak |first2=Yuval |last2=Peleg |title=The Qumran Excavations 1993–2004: Preliminary Report, JSP 6 |publisher=Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority |year=2007 |url=http://www.antiquities.org.il/images/shop/jsp/JSP6_Qumran_color.pdf |access-date=7 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128071000/http://www.antiquities.org.il/images/shop/jsp/JSP6_Qumran_color.pdf |archive-date=28 November 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref> who all understand the remains of Qumran to be those of a [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean]] fort that was reused during later periods.

==Physical characteristics==
[[File:7Q6-1,2.png|thumb|right|Fragments 1 and 2 of '7Q6' from Cave 7 are written on papyrus.]]

===Radiocarbon dating===
{{Main|Carbon dating the Dead Sea Scrolls}}
Parchment from a number of the Dead Sea Scrolls has been [[Radiocarbon dating|carbon dated]]. The initial test performed in 1950 was on a piece of linen from one of the caves. This test gave an indicative dating of 33&nbsp;CE plus or minus 200 years, eliminating early hypotheses relating the scrolls to the [[Middle Ages|Medieval period]].<ref>Doudna, G. "Carbon-14 Dating", in ''Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls'', Schiffman, Lawrence, Tov, Emanuel, & VanderKam, James, eds., Vol. 1 (Oxford: 2000).{{page?|date=September 2024}}{{ISBN?}}</ref> Since then two large series of tests have been performed on the scrolls. The results were summarized by VanderKam and Flint, who said the tests give "strong reason for thinking that most of the Qumran manuscripts belong to the last two centuries BCE and the first century CE."{{r|VanderKamFlint2005}}{{rp|32}}

In 2025, a series of radiocarbon tests were carried out on samples from thirty scrolls. The samples were distributed as 25 from the [[Qumran Caves]], 1 from [[Masada]], 2 from the [[Murabbaat]] caves, and 2 from the [[Nahal Hever]] caves. The study also made use of an [[AI]]-based date-prediction model called "Enoch", which was trained by applying [[Bayesian ridge regression]] on the handwriting-style descriptors of 24 of the 14C-dated samples, for the paleographic dating of some 135 previously undated manuscripts.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Dating ancient manuscripts using radiocarbon and AI-based writing style analysis |journal=PLOS ONE |last=Popović |first=Mladen |volume=20 |issue=6 |article-number=e0323185 |last2=Dhali |first2=Maruf A. |last3=Schomaker |first3=Lambert |last4=Plicht |first4=Johannes van der |last5=Rasmussen |first5=Kaare Lund |last6=Nasa |first6=Jacopo La |last7=Degano |first7=Ilaria |last8=Colombini |first8=Maria Perla |last9=Tigchelaar |first9=Eibert |year=2025 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0323185 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=12136314 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Paleographic dating===
Analysis of letter forms, or [[palaeography]], was applied to the texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls by a variety of scholars in the field. Major linguistic analysis by [[Frank Moore Cross|Cross]] and [[Nahman Avigad|Avigad]] dates fragments from 225&nbsp;BCE to 50&nbsp;CE.<ref name="autogenerated1">Grossman, Maxine. "Rediscovering the Dead Sea Scrolls." pp.&nbsp;48–51. 2010. {{ISBN?}}</ref> These dates were determined by examining the size, variability, and style of the text.<ref>Schofield, Alison. "From Qumran to the Yahad." p. 81. 2009. {{ISBN?}}</ref> The same fragments were later analysed using radiocarbon dating and were dated to an estimated range of 385&nbsp;BCE to 82&nbsp;CE with a 68% accuracy rate.{{r|autogenerated1}}

===Ink and parchment===
The scrolls were analysed using a [[cyclotron]] at the [[University of California, Davis]], where it was found that all black ink was [[carbon black]].<ref name="Nir-El and Broshi black">{{Cite journal|last1=Nir-El|first1=Yoram|last2=Broshi|first2=Magen|date=2009|jstor=4201558|title=The Black Ink of the Qumran Scrolls|journal=Dead Sea Discoveries|volume=3|issue=2|pages=157–167|doi=10.1163/156851796X00183}}</ref> The red ink on the scrolls was found to be made with [[cinnabar]] (HgS, mercury sulfide).<ref name="Nir-El and Broshi red">{{Cite journal|last1=Nir-El|first1=Yoram|last2=Broshi|first2=Magen|date=2007|title=The Red Ink of the Dead Sea Scrolls|journal=Archaeometry|volume=38|issue=1|pages=97–102|doi=10.1111/j.1475-4754.1996.tb00763.x}}</ref> There are only four uses of this red ink in the entire collection of Dead Sea Scroll fragments.<ref name="Nir-El and Broshi red"/> The black inks found on the scrolls are mostly made of carbon soot from [[Oil lamp|olive oil lamps]].<ref name="itsgila.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.itsgila.com/headlinerscrolls.htm|title=Shepherds, Scholars and the Dead Sea Scrolls|publisher=itsgila.com|access-date=1 June 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130426194314/http://www.itsgila.com/headlinerscrolls.htm|archive-date=26 April 2013}}</ref> Honey, oil, vinegar, and water were often added to the mixture to thin the ink to a proper consistency for writing.{{r|itsgila.com}} [[Iron gall ink|Galls]] were sometimes added to the ink to make it more resilient.{{r|itsgila.com}} In order to apply the ink to the scrolls, its writers used [[reed pen]]s.<ref name="Magness, Jodi P.33">Magness, Jodi. ''The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls''. p. 33. 2002.{{ISBN?}}</ref>

The Dead Sea Scrolls were written on [[parchment]] made of processed [[animal hides|animal hide]] known as [[vellum]] (approximately 85.5–90.5% of the scrolls), [[papyrus]] (estimated at 8–13% of the scrolls), and sheets of [[bronze]] composed of about 99% [[copper]] and 1% [[tin]] (approximately 1.5% of the scrolls).{{r|Magness, Jodi P.33}}<ref>McFarlane, Callie. ''A Clear Destiny''. p. 126. 2011.{{ISBN?}}</ref> For those scrolls written on animal hides, scholars with the [[Israel Antiquities Authority|Israeli Antiquities Authority]] (IAA), by use of DNA testing for assembly purposes, believe that there may be a hierarchy in the religious importance of the texts based on which type of animal was used to create the hide. Scrolls written on [[goat]] and [[calf (animal)|calf]] hides are considered by scholars to be more significant in nature, while those written on [[gazelle]] or [[Capra (genus)|ibex]] are considered to be less religiously significant in nature.<ref name="aaas.org">{{cite web |author=Sommers |first=Benjamin |date=8 November 2006 |title=Scientists Decode Dead Sea Scrolls with DNA and Infrared Digital Photography |url=http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2006/1108scrolls.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091013213623/http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2006/1108scrolls.shtml |archive-date=13 October 2009 |publisher=AAAS}}</ref>

Tests by the [[Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare|National Institute of Nuclear Physics]] in [[Sicily]] have suggested that the origin of parchment of select Dead Sea Scroll fragments is from the Qumran area, by using [[X-ray]] and [[particle-induced X-ray emission]] testing of the water used to make the parchment that were compared with the water from the area around Qumran.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.discovery.com/history/dead-sea-scrolls-protons.html|title=Dead Sea Scrolls Made Locally, Tests Show|work=Discovery News |publisher=Discovery|date=10 May 2017|access-date=1 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120814115417/http://news.discovery.com/history/dead-sea-scrolls-protons.html|archive-date=14 August 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Preservation===
[[File:Qumran pottery.jpg|thumb|right|Two of the pottery jars that held some of the Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran]]
[[File:Two Dead Sea Scrolls Jars at the Jordan Museum, Amman.jpg|thumb|Two Dead Sea Scrolls jars at the Jordan Museum, Amman]]

The Dead Sea Scrolls that were found were originally preserved by the arid conditions present within the Qumran area adjoining the Dead Sea.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/scrolls/dead.html|title=The Dead Sea|publisher=Library of Congress|access-date=29 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120093414/http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/scrolls/dead.html|archive-date=20 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, the lack of the use of [[Tanning (leather)|tanning]] materials on the parchment of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the very low airflow in the caves also contributed significantly to their preservation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cojs.org/cojswiki/Saving_the_Dead_Sea_Scrolls_for_the_Next_2000_Years,_Dodo_Joseph_Shenhav,_Biblical_Archaeology_Review,_Jul/Aug_1981 |title= Saving the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Next 2000 Years, Dodo Joseph Shenhav, Biblical Archaeology Review, Jul/Aug 1981 – CojsWiki|website=cojs.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202224004/http://cojs.org/cojswiki/Saving_the_Dead_Sea_Scrolls_for_the_Next_2000_Years%2C_Dodo_Joseph_Shenhav%2C_Biblical_Archaeology_Review%2C_Jul/Aug_1981 |archive-date=2 December 2013}}</ref> Some of the scrolls were found stored in clay jars, further helping to preserve them from deterioration. The original handling of the scrolls by archaeologists and scholars was done inappropriately, and, along with their storage in an uncontrolled environment, they began a process of more rapid deterioration than they had experienced at Qumran.<ref name="antiquities.org.il">{{cite web |author=Pnina Shor |url=http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=17&sub_subj_id=522 |title=Conservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls |publisher=Israel Antiquities Authority |access-date=13 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523101658/http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=17&sub_subj_id=522 |archive-date=23 May 2012 }}</ref> During the first few years in the late 1940s and early 1950s, adhesive tape used to join fragments and seal cracks caused significant damage to the documents.{{r|antiquities.org.il}} The government of Jordan had recognized the urgency of protecting the scrolls from deterioration and the presence of the deterioration among the scrolls.<ref name="Burrows, Millar 1958">Burrows, Millar. ''More Light on the Dead Sea Scrolls''. 1958.{{page?|date=September 2024}}</ref> However, the government did not have adequate funds to purchase all the scrolls for their protection and agreed to have foreign institutions purchase the scrolls and have them held at their museum in Jerusalem until they could be "adequately studied".{{r|Burrows, Millar 1958}}

In early 1953, the scrolls were moved to the Palestine Archaeological Museum (commonly called the [[Rockefeller Museum]])<ref name="RockefellerHist">{{cite web |url=http://www.imj.org.il/rockefeller/eng/Establishment.html |title=West meets East – The Story of the Rockefeller Museum |website=imj.org.il |publisher=The Israel Museum, Jerusalem |access-date=18 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005201100/http://www.imj.org.il/rockefeller/eng/Establishment.html |archive-date=5 October 2013 }}</ref> in East Jerusalem and through their transportation suffered more deterioration and damage.{{r|VanderKamFlint2005}}{{rp|63–65}} The museum was underfunded and had limited resources with which to examine the scrolls, and as a result conditions of the "scrollery" and storage area were left relatively uncontrolled by modern standards.{{r|VanderKamFlint2005}} The museum had left most of the fragments and scrolls lying between window glass, trapping the moisture in with them, causing an acceleration in the deterioration process. During the [[Suez Crisis]] the scrolls collection of the Palestine Archaeological Museum was stored in the vault of the [[Ottoman Bank]] in [[Amman]], Jordan.<ref name="Fitzmyer1992">Fitzmyer, Joseph A. ''Responses to 101 Questions on the Dead Sea Scrolls''. 1992.{{page?|date=September 2024}}{{ISBN?}}</ref> Damp conditions from temporary storage of the scrolls in the Ottoman Bank vault from 1956 to 1957 led to a more rapid rate of deterioration of the scrolls. The conditions caused mildew to develop on the scrolls and fragments, and some fragments were partially destroyed or made illegible by the glue and paper of the [[Manila folder|manila envelopes]] in which they were stored while in the vault.{{r|Fitzmyer1992}} By 1958 it was noted that up to 5% of some of the scrolls had completely deteriorated.{{r|Burrows, Millar 1958}} Many of the texts had become illegible, and many of the parchments had darkened considerably.{{r|VanderKamFlint2005|antiquities.org.il}}

Until the 1970s, the scrolls continued to deteriorate because of poor storage arrangements, exposure to different adhesives, and being stored in moist environments.{{r|antiquities.org.il}} Fragments written on parchment (rather than papyrus or bronze) in the hands of private collectors and scholars suffered an even worse fate than those in the hands of the museum, with large portions of fragments being reported to have disappeared by 1966.{{r|ReferenceA}} In the late 1960s, the deterioration was becoming a major concern with scholars and museum officials alike. Scholars [[John M. Allegro|John Allegro]] and Sir Francis Frank were among the first to strongly advocate for better preservation techniques.{{r|VanderKamFlint2005}} Early attempts made by both the British and Israel museums to remove the adhesive tape ended up exposing the parchment to an array of chemicals, including "[[British Museum leather dressing|British Leather Dressing]]," and darkening some of them significantly.{{r|VanderKamFlint2005}} In the 1970s and 1980s, other preservation attempts were made that included removing the glass plates and replacing them with cardboard and removing pressure against the plates that held the scrolls in storage; however, the fragments and scrolls continued to rapidly deteriorate during this time.{{r|antiquities.org.il}}

In 1991, the IAA established a temperature-controlled laboratory for the [[Preservation (library and archive)|storage and preservation]] of the scrolls. The actions and preservation methods of Rockefeller Museum staff were concentrated on the removal of tape, oils, metals, salt, and other contaminants.{{r|antiquities.org.il}} The fragments and scrolls are preserved using acid-free cardboard and stored in [[solander box]]es in the climate-controlled storage area.{{r|antiquities.org.il}} Nine tiny [[Tefillin|tefellin]] strips were rediscovered by the IAA in 2014, after they had been stored unopened for six decades following their excavation in 1952.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/science/nine-unopened-dead-sea-scrolls-found/|title=Nine unopened Dead Sea Scrolls found|work=Fox News|date=24 March 2015|access-date=13 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313070303/http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/03/13/nine-unopened-dead-sea-scrolls-found/|archive-date=13 March 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Nine manuscripts with biblical text unearthed in Qumran|url=http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/culture/2014/02/27/Nine-manuscripts-biblical-text-unearthed-Qumran_10153990.html|access-date=13 March 2014|newspaper=ANSAmed|date=27 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314000426/http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/culture/2014/02/27/Nine-manuscripts-biblical-text-unearthed-Qumran_10153990.html|archive-date=14 March 2014}}</ref>

==Photography and assembly==
Since the Dead Sea Scrolls were initially held by different parties during and after the excavation process, they were not all photographed by the same organization.

===First photographs (1948)===
The first individual to photograph a portion of the collection was Trever, who was a resident for the American Schools of Oriental Research.{{r|VanderKamFlint2005}}{{rp|68}} He photographed three of the scrolls discovered in Cave 1 on 21 February 1948, both on black-and-white and color film.{{r|VanderKamFlint2005}}{{rp|26}}{{r|Evans-Guide}}{{rp|396}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bib-arch.org/online-exclusives/dead-sea-scrolls-04.asp |title=Dead Sea Scrolls |publisher=Biblical Archaeology Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531102302/http://www.bib-arch.org/online-exclusives/dead-sea-scrolls-04.asp |archive-date=31 May 2012}}</ref> Although an amateur photographer, the quality of his photographs often exceeded the visibility of the scrolls themselves as, over the years, the ink of the texts quickly deteriorated after they were removed from their linen wrappings.

===Infrared photography and plate assembly (1952–1967)===
A majority of the collection from the Qumran caves was acquired by the Palestine Archaeological Museum. The museum had the scrolls photographed by [[Najib Albina]], a local Arab photographer trained by [[Lewis Larsson]] of the [[American Colony, Jerusalem|American Colony]] in Jerusalem,<ref>Israel Antiquities Authority Personnel Records. Dated 1952 and 1960.</ref> Between 1952 and 1967, Albina documented the five-stage process of the sorting and assembly of the scrolls, done by the curator and staff of the Palestine Archaeological Museum, using [[infrared photography]]. Using a process known today as broadband fluorescence infrared photography, or NIR photography, Najib and the team at the museum produced over 1,750 photographic plates of the scrolls and fragments.{{r|VanderKamFlint2005}}{{rp|68}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Verhoeven |first=G. |title=Imaging the invisible using modified digital still cameras for straightforward and low-cost archaeological near-infrared photography |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=35 |issue=12 |pages=3087–3100 |year=2008 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2008.06.012|bibcode=2008JArSc..35.3087V }}</ref><ref>Dorrell, Peter G. ''Photography in Archaeology and Conservation'' 2nd Edition. 1994.</ref><ref>American Schools of Oriental Research. ''The Biblical Archaeologist''. Volumes 55–56. 1992.</ref> The photographs were taken with the scrolls laid out on animal skin using large format film, which caused the text to stand out, making the plates especially useful for assembling fragments.{{r|VanderKamFlint2005}}{{rp|68}} These are the earliest photographs of the museum's collection, which was the most complete in the world at the time, and they recorded the fragments and scrolls before their further decay in storage, so they are often considered the best recorded copies of the scrolls.<ref>Shanks, Hershel. ''Freeing the Dead Sea Scrolls: And Other Adventures of an Archaeology Outsider'' (2010).</ref>

===Digital infrared imaging (1993–2012)===
[[File:Infrared Fragment Photographed by Nasa.jpg|thumb|right|A previously unreadable fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls photographed by the [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] using digital infrared technology. Translated into English it reads: "He wrote the words of Noah."]]

Beginning in 1993, the United States [[NASA|National Aeronautics and Space Administration]] (NASA) used digital infrared imaging technology to produce photographs of Dead Sea Scrolls fragments.{{r|nasa.gov}} In partnership with the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center and West Semitic Research, NASA's [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] successfully worked to expand on the use of infrared photography previously used to evaluate ancient manuscripts by expanding the range of spectra at which images are photographed.<ref name="Other Ancient Documents 1675">{{cite web|title=Multi-Spectral Digital Imaging of Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Documents |url=http://www.trs-new.jpl.nasa.gov/dspace/bitstream/2014/35946/1/93-1675.pdf |access-date=31 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527084809/http://trs-new.jpl.nasa.gov/dspace/bitstream/2014/35946/1/93-1675.pdf |archive-date=27 May 2010}}</ref> 

NASA used [[multispectral imaging]] adapted from its remote sensing and planetary probes in order to reveal previously illegible text on the fragments.{{r|Other Ancient Documents 1675}} The process uses a [[liquid crystal tunable filter]] in order to photograph the scrolls at specific wavelengths of light and, as a result, image distortion is significantly diminished.<ref name="nasa.gov">{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/technologies/scrolls.html|title=Seeing into the Past|publisher=NASA|access-date=31 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503075726/http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/technologies/scrolls.html|archive-date=3 May 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> This method was used with select fragments to reveal text and details a larger light spectrum could not reveal.{{r|nasa.gov}} The camera and digital imaging assembly were developed specifically for the purpose of photographing illegible ancient texts.<ref>{{cite web |author=Libman |first1=Elena |last2=Bitler |first2=Tania |last3=Shor |first3=Pnina |title=Conservation, Science and Scholarly Collaboration |url=http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=17&sub_subj_id=391&id=760 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121142607/http://antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=17&sub_subj_id=391&id=760 |archive-date=21 January 2012 |access-date=9 June 2012 |publisher=Israel Antiquities Authority}}</ref>

On 18 December 2012<ref>{{cite web |last=Miller |first=Eyal |url=http://googleblog.blogspot.co.il/2012/12/in-beginningbringing-scrolls-of-genesis.html |title=Official Blog: "In the beginning"...&nbsp;bringing the scrolls of Genesis and the Ten Commandments online |publisher=Googleblog.blogspot.co.il |date=18 December 2012 |access-date=26 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130101114104/http://googleblog.blogspot.co.il/2012/12/in-beginningbringing-scrolls-of-genesis.html |archive-date=1 January 2013 }}</ref> the first output of this project was launched together with Google on the dedicated site ''Deadseascrolls.org.il.''<ref name="DSSDL-Main">{{cite web | title=Dead seascrolls.org/il | url=https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il | access-date=1 November 2023}}</ref> The site contains both digitizations of old images taken in the 1950s and about 1,000 images taken with multispectral imaging.<ref>{{cite web | title=The Digital Library: About the Project | url=https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/about-the-project/the-digital-library | publisher=The Dead Sea Scrolls | access-date=1 November 2023}}</ref>

===DNA scroll assembly (2006–2020)===
Scientists with the IAA have used [[DNA]] from the parchment on which the fragments were written, in concert with infrared digital photography, to assist in the reassembly of the scrolls. For scrolls written on parchment made from animal hide and papyrus, scientists with the museum are using DNA code to associate fragments with different scrolls and to help scholars determine which scrolls may hold greater significance based on the type of material that was used.{{r|aaas.org}} In a paper published in 2020 in the journal ''Cell'', researchers from [[Tel Aviv University]] have shown that DNA extracted from the scrolls can be used to sort different scroll fragments not only based on the animal species but also based on variations in the nuclear genome of individual fragments. This effort enabled the researchers to match different fragments to each other based on their genetics and separate fragments which were falsely connected in the past.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.046|title=Illuminating Genetic Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls|year=2020|last1=Anava|first1=Sarit|last2=Neuhof|first2=Moran|last3=Gingold|first3=Hila|last4=Sagy|first4=Or|last5=Munters|first5=Arielle|last6=Svensson|first6=Emma M.|last7=Afshinnekoo|first7=Ebrahim|last8=Danko|first8=David|last9=Foox|first9=Jonathan|last10=Shor|first10=Pnina|last11=Riestra|first11=Beatriz|last12=Huchon|first12=Dorothée|last13=Mason|first13=Christopher E.|last14=Mizrahi|first14=Noam|last15=Jakobsson|first15=Mattias|last16=Rechavi|first16=Oded|journal=Cell|volume=181|issue=6|pages=1218–1231.e27|pmid=32492404|s2cid=219300081|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-dna-unlocks-the-secrets-of-the-dead-sea-scrolls-1.8897769 |title=DNA Unlocks the Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls |newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=13 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613043300/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-dna-unlocks-the-secrets-of-the-dead-sea-scrolls-1.8897769 |archive-date=13 June 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Digitization project (2011–2016)===
In partnership with Google, the Museum of Jerusalem is working to photograph the Dead Sea Scrolls and make them available to the public digitally, albeit not in the [[public domain]].<ref name="ReferenceC">{{cite web | url=http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/project | title=Digital Dead Sea Scrolls at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem – The Project | access-date=4 November 2023}}</ref> The lead photographer of the project, Ardon Bar-Hama, and his team are utilizing the [[Alpa]] 12 MAX camera accompanied with a [[Leaf (Israeli company)|Leaf]] Aptus-II back to produce ultra-high resolution digital images of the scrolls and fragments.<ref name="idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com">{{cite web|url=http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/how-one-photographer-helped-google-digitize-the-dead-sea-scrolls.php |title=How One Photographer Helped Google Digitize The Dead Sea Scrolls|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111014825/http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/how-one-photographer-helped-google-digitize-the-dead-sea-scrolls.php |archive-date=11 January 2012}}</ref> With photos taken at 1,200 [[Pixel|megapixels]], the results are digital images that can be used to distinguish details that are invisible to the naked eye. In order to minimize damage to the scrolls and fragments, photographers are using a 1/4000th of a second [[Exposure (photography)|exposure]] time and UV-protected flash tubes.{{r|ReferenceC}} The digital photography project was estimated in 2011 to cost 3.5 million U.S. dollars.{{r|idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com}}

=== Proposed older dates ===
A new study was published in 2025 that uses A.I. and latest radiocarbon dating, as well as the updated handwriting analysis. This study proposes older dates for some of the scrolls. Researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence model called "Enoch". Then some 135 Dead Sea Scroll manuscripts that have not been previously dated were analyzed. The lead author is Mladen Popović from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.<ref name="c970">{{cite journal | last1=Popović | first1=Mladen | last2=Dhali | first2=Maruf A. | last3=Schomaker | first3=Lambert | last4=van der Plicht | first4=Johannes | last5=Lund Rasmussen | first5=Kaare | last6=La Nasa | first6=Jacopo | last7=Degano | first7=Ilaria | last8=Perla Colombini | first8=Maria | last9=Tigchelaar | first9=Eibert | title=Dating ancient manuscripts using radiocarbon and AI-based writing style analysis | journal=PLOS One | volume=20 | issue=6 | date=2025-06-04 | issn=1932-6203 | pmid=40465545 | pmc=12136314 | doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0323185 | doi-access=free | article-number=e0323185}}</ref>

For example, the fragmentary scroll 4Q114 of the Book of Daniel is now dated to between 230 and 160 B.C.E., as much as 60 years earlier than previously thought.<ref>Sonja Anderson (June 5, 2025), [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-dead-sea-scrolls-changed-our-understanding-of-the-bible-could-some-of-them-be-even-older-than-we-thought-180986746/ The Dead Sea Scrolls Changed Our Understanding of the Bible. Could Some of Them Be Even Older Than We Thought?] - smithsonianmag.com</ref>

One outcome of this study provides new insights on the dating of the Herodian-type manuscripts that are generally believed to be younger than the Hasmonaean-type manuscripts. Analysis shows that the date range of the Herodian manuscripts is much wider than previously thought; it is proposed that it extends "from the second century CE all the way back to the second century BCE". So these ranges for the two types are now shown to be overlapping with each other to some extent.<ref name="c970"/>

==Scholarly examination==
[[File:EL Sukenik 1951.jpg|thumb|right|[[Eleazar Sukenik]] examining one of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1951]]

After most of the scrolls and fragments were moved to the Palestine Archaeological Museum in 1953, scholars began to assemble them and log them for translation and study in a room that became known as the "scrollery".<ref>{{cite web | title=Archaeology: Fragments of History | url=http://archives.dawn.com/archives/45166 | date=26 July 2009 | access-date=14 June 2012 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20131108073851/http://archives.dawn.com/archives/45166 | archive-date=8 November 2013}}</ref>

The text of the Dead Sea Scrolls is written in four languages: [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]], [[Greek language|Greek]], and [[Nabataean Aramaic|Nabataean]].

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Language !! Script !! Percentage of documents !! Centuries of known use
|-
| [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] || [[Ktav Ashuri|Assyrian block]] [[Hebrew alphabet|script]]<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il/resources/FAQ.shtml | title=Frequently Asked Questions | access-date=18 January 2024}}</ref> || Estimated 76–79% || 3rd century BCE to present
|-
| [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] || [[Encryption|Cryptic]] [[Cipher|scripts]] "A" "B" and "C"<ref>{{Cite web | first=Charles | last=Day | title=Those who are persecuted because of righteousness, are those who pursue righteousness: an examination of the origin and meaning Matthew 5:10 | url=http://www.satsonline.org/userfiles/Day_OriginAndMeaningOfMatthew5.10.pdf | access-date=18 June 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501170639/http://www.satsonline.org/userfiles/Day_OriginAndMeaningOfMatthew5.10.pdf | archive-date=1 May 2013}}</ref><ref name="Elledge, C.D P.88">Elledge, C.D. ''The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls''. p. 88. 2005.</ref><ref name="dss-ant">{{Cite book | editor1-first=Michael O. | editor1-last=Wise | editor2-first=Martin | editor2-last=Abegg Jr. | editor3-first=Edward | editor3-last=Cook | title=The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation | edition=revised | year=2005 | publisher=Harper Collins | location=New York | isbn=978-0-06-076662-7 | url=https://archive.org/details/deadseascrollsne00wise | url-access=registration}}</ref>{{rp|375}} || Estimated 0.9–1.0%<ref>Reeves, John C. and Kampen, John. ''Pursuing the Text''. pp.&nbsp;111–112. 1994.</ref> || Unknown
|-
| [[Biblical Hebrew]] || [[Paleo-Hebrew alphabet|Paleo-Hebrew]] [[Hebrew alphabet|script]]<ref name="Glob, Norman 2012">Glob, Norman. ''Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls''. 2012.</ref> || rowspan="2" | Estimated 1.0–1.5%{{r|Elledge, C.D P.88}} || rowspan="2" | 10th century BCE to the 2nd century CE
|-
| [[Biblical Hebrew]] || [[Paleo-Hebrew alphabet|Paleo-Hebrew scribal]] [[Hebrew alphabet|script]]{{r|Glob, Norman 2012}}
|-
| [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] || [[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic square script]] || Estimated 16–17%{{r|dss-ant|p=9|q=about one out of six of the Dead Sea Scrolls is inscribed in Aramaic.}} || 8th century BCE to present
|-
| [[Greek language|Greek]] || [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] [[uncial script]]{{r|Glob, Norman 2012}} || Estimated 3%{{r|Elledge, C.D P.88}} || 3rd century BCE to 8th century CE
|-
| [[Nabataean Aramaic|Nabataean]] || [[Nabataean alphabet|Nabataean script]]<ref name="Schiffman, Lawrence H. 1997">Schiffman, Lawrence H. et al. "The Dead Sea scrolls: fifty years after their discovery: proceedings of the Jerusalem Congress, July 20–25, 1997." 1997.</ref>
 || Estimated 0.2%{{r|Schiffman, Lawrence H. 1997}} || 2nd century BCE to the 4th century CE
|}

==Publication==
===Physical publication===
[[File:Dead Sea Scroll Scholar Examination.jpg|thumb|right|Scholars assembling Dead Sea Scrolls fragments at the Rockefeller Museum (formerly the Palestine Archaeological Museum)]]

Some of the fragments and scrolls were published early. Most of the longer, more complete scrolls were published soon after their discovery. All the writings in Cave 1 appeared in print between 1950 and 1956; those from eight other caves were released in 1963; and in 1965 the Psalms Scroll from Cave 11 was published. Their translations into English soon followed.

Publication of the scrolls has taken many decades, and delays have been a source of academic controversy. The scrolls were controlled by a small group of scholars headed by John Strugnell, while a majority of scholars had access neither to the scrolls nor even to photographs of the text. Scholars such as Norman Golb, publishers and writers such as [[Hershel Shanks]], and many others argued for decades for publishing the texts, so that they become available to researchers. This controversy only ended in 1991, when the [[Biblical Archaeology Society]] was able to publish the "Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls", after an intervention of the Israeli government and the IAA.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19910922/1306832/copies-of-dead-sea-scrolls-to-go-public |title=Copies of Dead Sea Scrolls To Go Public – Release Would End Scholars' Dispute' |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |date=22 September 1991 |access-date=2 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021081134/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19910922&slug=1306832 |archive-date=21 October 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1991 [[Emanuel Tov]] was appointed as the chairman of the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation, and publication of the scrolls followed in the same year.

The majority of the scrolls consist of tiny, brittle fragments, which were published at a pace considered by many to be excessively slow. During early assembly and translation work by scholars through the Rockefeller Museum from the 1950s through the 1960s, access to the unpublished documents was limited to the editorial committee.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}

====''Discoveries in the Judaean Desert'' (1955–2009)====
The content of the scrolls was published in a 40-volume series by [[Oxford University Press]] between 1955 and 2009 known as ''[[Discoveries in the Judaean Desert]]''.<ref name="orion.mscc.huji.ac.il">{{cite web|url=http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il/resources/djd.shtml|title=DJD Index|publisher=Hebrew University|access-date=12 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519110203/http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il/resources/djd.shtml|archive-date=19 May 2012}}</ref> In 1952 the Jordanian Department of Antiquities assembled a team of scholars to begin examining, assembling, and translating the scrolls with the intent of publishing them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yourbiblequotes.com/dead-sea-scrolls/|title=The Dead Sea Scrolls|publisher=Your Bible Quotes|date=28 July 2014|access-date=28 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809032608/http://www.yourbiblequotes.com/dead-sea-scrolls/|archive-date=9 August 2014}}</ref> The initial publication, assembled by [[Dominique Barthélemy]] and Józef Milik, was published as ''Qumran Cave 1'' in 1955.{{r|orion.mscc.huji.ac.il}} After a series of other publications in the late 1980s and early 1990s and with the appointment of the respected Dutch-Israeli textual scholar Emanuel Tov as editor-in-chief of the Dead Sea Scrolls Publication Project in 1990 publication of the scrolls accelerated. Tov's team had published five volumes covering the Cave 4 documents by 1995. Between 1990 and 2009, Tov helped the team produce 32 volumes. The final volume, Volume XL, was published in 2009.

====''A Preliminary Edition of the Unpublished Dead Sea Scrolls'' (1991)====
In 1991, researchers at [[Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion|Hebrew Union College]] in [[Cincinnati]], Ohio, Ben Zion Wacholder and [[Martin Abegg]], announced the creation of a computer program that used previously published scrolls to reconstruct the unpublished texts.<ref>{{citation |url=http://huc.edu/news/article/2011/huc-jir-mourns-dr-ben-zion-wacholder-freehof-professor-emeritus-talmud-and |title=HUC-JIR Mourns Dr. Ben Zion Wacholder |publisher=Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion |date=31 March 2011 |access-date=17 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118003723/http://huc.edu/news/article/2011/huc-jir-mourns-dr-ben-zion-wacholder-freehof-professor-emeritus-talmud-and |archive-date=18 November 2015 }}</ref> Officials at the [[Huntington Library]] in [[San Marino, California]], led by head librarian [[William Andrew Moffett]], announced that they would allow researchers unrestricted access to the library's complete set of photographs of the scrolls. In the fall of that year, Wacholder published 17 documents that had been reconstructed in 1988 from a [[Concordance (publishing)|concordance]] and had come into the hands of scholars outside of the international team; in the same month, there occurred the discovery and publication of a complete set of facsimiles of the Cave 4 materials at the Huntington Library. Thereafter, the officials of the IAA agreed to lift their long-standing restrictions on the use of the scrolls.<ref name="britan">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/154274/Dead-Sea-Scrolls|title=Dead Sea Scrolls|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=26 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412153300/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/154274/Dead-Sea-Scrolls|archive-date=12 April 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

====''A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls'' (1991)====
After further delays, attorney [[William John Cox]] undertook representation of an "undisclosed client", who had provided a complete set of the unpublished photographs, and contracted for their publication. Professors Robert Eisenman and [[James M. Robinson|James Robinson]] indexed the photographs and wrote an introduction to ''A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls'', which was published by the Biblical Archaeology Society in 1991.<ref>[[Robert Eisenman|Eisenman, Robert H.]] and James Robinson, ''A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls'' in two volumes (Biblical Archaeology Society of Washington, DC, 1991).</ref> Following the publication of the ''Facsimile Edition'', Professor [[Elisha Qimron]] sued Hershel Shanks, Eisenman, Robinson and the Biblical Archaeology Society for copyright infringement for publishing without authorization or attribution his decipherment of one of the scrolls, MMT. The District Court of Jerusalem found in favour of Qimron.<ref>Civil Case (Jer) 41/92 Qimron v. Shanks et al. (30 March 1993) [Hebrew].</ref> The court issued a restraining order which prohibited the publication of the deciphered text, and ordered defendants to pay Qimron NIS 100,000 for infringing his copyright and the right of attribution. Defendants appealed the [[Supreme Court of Israel]] which approved the district court's decision. The Supreme Court further ordered that the defendants hand over to Qimron all the infringing copies.<ref>Unofficial translation of {{cite web |url=http://www.tau.ac.il/law/members/birnhack/DSStranslation.pdf |title=CA 2709/93, 2811/93 Eisenman et al v. Qimron (30 August 2000) |access-date=27 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520081457/http://www.tau.ac.il/law/members/birnhack/DSStranslation.pdf |archive-date=20 May 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> The decision met Israeli and international criticism from copyright law scholars.<ref>{{citation |first=Michael D. |last=Birnhack |ssrn=905114 |title=The Dead Sea Scrolls Case: Who Is an Author? |others=23 (3) EIPR 128 (2001)|date=30 May 2006}}</ref><ref>Roberta Rosenthal Kwall, "Inspiration and Innovation: The Intrinsic Dimension of the Artistic Soul" 81 ''Notre Dame L. Rev.''. 1945 (2006)</ref><ref>David Nimmer, Authorship and Originality, 38 Houston L. Rev. 1, 159 (2001)</ref><ref>Urszula Tempska, "Originality after the Dead Sea Scrolls Decision: Implications for the American Law of Copyright", 6 Marq. Intell. Prop. L. Rev. 119 (2002).</ref><ref>Timothy H. Lim, "Intellectual Property and the Dead Sea Scrolls", ''Dead Sea Discoveries'' Vol 9, No. 2 (2002) p. 187.</ref>

====The Facsimile Edition (2007–2008)====
In November 2007 the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation commissioned the London publisher Facsimile Editions Limited to produce a facsimile edition of The Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIs<sup>a</sup>), The Order of the Community (1QS), and The Pesher to Habakkuk (1QpHab).<ref name="Georgson">{{cite thesis |type=M.Divinity |title=Book Digitization: a Practical and Urgent Necessity for the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod |url=http://essays.wisluthsem.org:8080/bitstream/handle/123456789/111/SeniorThesis2012Georgson.pdf |last=Georgson |first=Seth |year=2012 |publisher=Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary |page=26 |access-date=15 December 2012 |archive-date=13 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013135514/http://essays.wisluthsem.org:8080/bitstream/handle/123456789/111/SeniorThesis2012Georgson.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{citation |author=Rocker |first=Simon |title=The Dead Sea Scrolls...made in St John's Wood |date=16 November 2007 |url=http://website.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m13s100&AId=56661 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726031448/http://website.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m13s100&AId=56661 |archive-date=26 July 2011 |publisher=The Jewish Chronicle}}.</ref> The facsimile was produced from 1948 photographs and so more faithfully represents the condition of the Isaiah Scroll at the time of its discovery than does the current condition of the Isaiah Scroll.{{r|Georgson}}

Of the first three facsimile sets, one was exhibited at the ''Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls'' exhibition in Seoul, South Korea, and a second set was purchased by the British Library in London. A further 46 sets including facsimiles of three fragments from Cave 4 (now in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum in Amman, Jordan) Testimonia (4Q175), Pesher Isaiah<sup>b</sup> (4Q162) and Qohelet (4Q109) were announced in May 2009. The edition is strictly limited to 49 numbered sets of these reproductions on either specially prepared parchment paper or real parchment.{{r|Georgson}} The facsimiles have since been exhibited in ''Qumrân. Le secret des manuscrits de la mer Morte'' at the [[Bibliothèque Nationale]], Paris, France (2010)<ref>{{citation |author=von Uthmann |first=Jorg |title=Exhibit offers context for Dead Sea Scrolls |date=18 June 2010 |url=http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100618/ARTICLE/6181000 |access-date=17 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118052340/http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100618/ARTICLE/6181000 |archive-date=18 November 2015 |publisher=HeraldTribune.com}}.</ref> and ''Verbum Domini'' at the [[Vatican City|Vatican]], Rome, Italy (2012).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.news.va/en/news/verbum-domini-bible-exhibit-opens-in-vatican |title= 'Verbum Domini' Bible Exhibit opens in Vatican |publisher=News.va |date=29 February 2012 |access-date=17 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118070818/http://www.news.va/en/news/verbum-domini-bible-exhibit-opens-in-vatican |archive-date=18 November 2015 }}</ref>

===Digital publication===
The text of nearly all of the non-biblical scrolls has been recorded and tagged for [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] by Martin Abegg, Jr., the Ben Zion Wacholder Professor of Dead Sea Scroll Studies at [[Trinity Western University]] located in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.olivetree.com/store/product.php?productid=17117|title=Qumran (non-biblical texts)|publisher=olivetree.com|access-date=13 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623202935/http://www.olivetree.com/store/product.php?productid=17117|archive-date=23 June 2012}}</ref> It is available on handheld devices through [[Olive Tree Bible Software]] and [[Logos Bible Software]].

The text of almost all of the non-biblical texts was released on CD-ROM by publisher E.J. Brill in 2005.<ref name="maxwellinstitute.byu.edu">"From Other Publishers: Dead Sea Scrolls Reader Released." http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/insights/?vol=25&num=2&id=423 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701184403/http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/insights/?vol=25&num=2&id=423|date=1 July 2013}}.</ref> The 2,400 page, six-volume series, was assembled by an editorial team led by [[Donald W. Parry]] and Emanuel Tov.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brill.nl/dead-sea-scrolls-reader-6-vols|title=The Dead Sea Scrolls Reader (6 vols)|publisher=brill.nl|date=October 2004|access-date=13 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711220606/http://www.brill.nl/dead-sea-scrolls-reader-6-vols|archive-date=11 July 2011}}</ref> Unlike the text translations in the physical publication, ''Discoveries in the Judaean Desert,'' the texts are sorted by genres that include religious law, parabiblical texts, calendrical and sapiental texts, and poetic and liturgical works.{{r|maxwellinstitute.byu.edu}}

On 25 September 2011 the [[Israel Museum]] Digital Dead Sea Scrolls site went online.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Project at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem | url=http://dss.collections.imj.org.il | access-date=4 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Miller |first=Eyal |url=http://googleblog.blogspot.co.il/2011/09/from-desert-to-web-bringing-dead-sea.html |title=Official Blog: From the desert to the web: bringing the Dead Sea Scrolls online |publisher=Googleblog.blogspot.co.il |date=26 September 2011 |access-date=26 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118095015/http://googleblog.blogspot.co.il/2011/09/from-desert-to-web-bringing-dead-sea.html |archive-date=18 November 2012 }}</ref> It gives users access to searchable, high-resolution images of the scrolls, as well as short explanatory videos and background information on the texts and their history. {{As of|2012|05}}, five complete scrolls from the Israel Museum have been digitized for the project and are accessible online: the Great Isaiah Scroll, the Community Rule Scroll, the Commentary on Habakkuk Scroll, the Temple Scroll, and the War Scroll.

==Biblical significance==
{{See also|Biblical canon|Biblical manuscript}}

Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest Hebrew-language manuscripts of the Bible were [[Masoretic Text|Masoretic texts]] dating to the 10th century CE, such as the [[Aleppo Codex]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rabinovich|first1=Abraham|title=A sound in silence|url=https://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/A-sound-in-silence|access-date=29 August 2015|newspaper=Jerusalem Post|date=26 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101012524/http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/A-sound-in-silence|archive-date=1 November 2013}}</ref> Today, the oldest known extant manuscripts of the Masoretic Text date from approximately the 9th century. The biblical manuscripts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls push that date back more than a millennium to the 2nd century BCE.<ref>{{cite book |author=Van Der Plitch |first=Johannes |url=http://ehacksandcheats.com/pdf/2007DeadSeaDiscovvdPlicht.pdf |title=Radiocarbon dating and the dead sea scrolls: A comment on 'Redating' |publisher=Center for Isotope Research, Groningen University and Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914023047/http://ehacksandcheats.com/pdf/2007DeadSeaDiscovvdPlicht.pdf |archive-date=14 September 2014 }}</ref> This was a significant discovery for Old Testament scholars who anticipated that the Dead Sea Scrolls would either affirm or repudiate the reliability of textual transmission from the original texts to the oldest Masoretic texts at hand. The discovery demonstrated the unusual accuracy of transmission over a thousand-year period, rendering it reasonable to believe that current Old Testament texts are reliable copies of the original works.

According to ''The Dead Sea Scrolls'' by Hebrew scholar Millar Burrows

<blockquote>Of the 166 ''words'' in Isaiah 53, there are only seventeen ''letters'' in question. Ten of these letters are simply a matter of spelling, which does not affect the sense. Four more letters are minor stylistic changes, such as conjunctions. The remaining three letters comprise the word "light," which is added in verse 11, and does not affect the meaning greatly.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Dead Sea Scrolls|last=Burrows|first=Millar|publisher=Moody Press|year=1986|location=Chicago|page=304}}</ref></blockquote>

Differences were found among fragments of texts. According to ''The Oxford Companion to Archaeology'':

{{Blockquote|While some of the Qumran biblical manuscripts are nearly identical to the Masoretic, or traditional, Hebrew text of the Old Testament, some manuscripts of the books of Exodus and Samuel found in Cave Four exhibit dramatic differences in both language and content. In their astonishing range of textual variants, the Qumran biblical discoveries have prompted scholars to reconsider the once-accepted theories of the development of the modern biblical text from only three manuscript families: of the Masoretic text, of the Hebrew original of the [[Septuagint]], and of the [[Samaritan Pentateuch]]. It is now becoming increasingly clear that the Old Testament scripture was extremely fluid until [[Development of the Old Testament canon|its canonization]] around A.D. 100.<!-- NOTE: this is a quotation so the value should stay "A.D. 100" as quoted --><ref>Fagan, Brian M., and Charlotte Beck, ''The Oxford Companion to Archeology'', entry on the "Dead sea scrolls", Oxford University Press, 1996.</ref>|sign=|source=}}The majority of the texts found is non-biblical in nature and were thought to be insignificant for understanding the composition or canonization of the biblical books, but a consensus has emerged which sees many of these works as being collected by the Essene community instead of being composed by them.<ref name="DávidLange2012">{{cite book |last1=Dávid |first1=Nóra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Akn_nhHegIC&pg=PR9 |title=The Hebrew Bible in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls |last2=Lange |first2=Armin |last3=De Troyer |first3=Kristin |last4=Tzoref |first4=Shani |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |year=2012 |isbn=978-3-525-53555-4 |pages=9– |access-date=16 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322111613/https://books.google.com/books?id=-Akn_nhHegIC&pg=PR9 |archive-date=22 March 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Scholars now recognize that some of these works were composed earlier than the Essene period, when some of the biblical books were still being written or redacted into their final form.{{r|DávidLange2012}}

===Biblical books found===
There are 235 biblical texts, including 10 [[deuterocanonical books]], included in the Dead Sea Scroll documents, or around 22% of the total.{{r|AbeggFlint2012|DSS-Bible}} The Dead Sea Scrolls contain parts of all but one of the books of the [[Tanakh]] of the [[Hebrew Bible]] and the [[Old Testament]] [[Protocanonical books|protocanon]]. They also include four of the deuterocanonical books included in [[Catholic Bible|Catholic]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] Bibles: [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]], [[Book of Sirach|Sirach]], [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]] 6 (also known as the [[Letter of Jeremiah|Letter or Epistle of Jeremiah]]), and [[Psalm 151]].<ref name="AbeggFlint2012">{{cite book|author1=Martin G. Abegg|author2=Peter Flint|author3=Eugene Ulrich|title=The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jmm8Mvjw2WQC&pg=PR16|access-date=3 April 2013|year=2012|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-203112-9|pages=16–|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101061138/http://books.google.com/books?id=Jmm8Mvjw2WQC&pg=PR16|archive-date=1 January 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Book of Esther]] has not yet been found, and scholars believe Esther is missing because, as a Jew, her marriage to a [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] king may have been looked down upon by the inhabitants of Qumran,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=44&chapid=226 |title=The Dead Sea Scrolls |publisher=Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship |access-date=13 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806141936/http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=44&chapid=226 |archive-date=6 August 2012 }}</ref> or because the book has the [[Purim]] festival which is not included in the [[Hebrew calendar#The Qumran calendar|Qumran calendar]].{{r|VanderKamFlint2005}}{{rp|180}} 

Listed below are the most represented books, along with the deuterocanonicals, of the Bible found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including the number of translatable Dead Sea texts that represent a copy of scripture from each biblical book:<ref>[[Theodor Gaster|Gaster, Theodor H.]], ''The Dead Sea Scriptures'', Peter Smith Pub Inc., 1976. {{ISBN|0844667021}}.</ref><ref>E. Tov, "Joshua, Book of," in ''Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls'' (eds. L.H. Schiffman and J.C. VanderKam; 2 vols.; New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) 1: 431. {{ISBN?}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width: 25%"
|-
! Book !! Number found
|-
| [[Psalms]] || 39
|-
| Deuteronomy || 33
|-
| 1 Enoch || 25
|-
| [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] || 24
|-
| Isaiah || 22
|-
| Jubilees || 21
|-
| [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] || 18
|-
| [[Book of Leviticus|Leviticus]] || 17
|-
| Numbers || 11
|-
| [[Minor Prophets]] || 10{{NoteTag|10 Scrolls containing fragments of all 12 of the "Minor Prophets" were found in Cave 4, although no fragment contains portions of more than three prophets.<ref name="von Weissenberg">{{cite journal |last=von Weissenberg |first=Hanne |title=The Twelve Minor Prophets at Qumran and the Canonical Process:Amos as a "Case Study" |pages=357–376 |url = https://www.academia.edu/393434 |journal=The Hebrew Bible in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls |date=2011 |doi=10.13109/9783666535550.357 |isbn=978-3-525-53555-4 |access-date=3 October 2014 }}</ref>}}
|-
| [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] || 8
|-
| [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]] || 6
|-
| [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] || 6
|-
| [[Book of Job|Job]] || 6
|-
| Tobit || 5{{NoteTag|There are four Aramaic fragmentary texts of Tobit, and one Hebrew text.<ref>A.A. Di Lella, [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/19-tobit-nets.pdf ''New English Translation of the Septuagint'', "Tobit" (PDF)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917190042/http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/19-tobit-nets.pdf |date=17 September 2011 }}, 2007.</ref>}}
|-
| [[Books of Kings|Kings]] || 4
|-
| [[Book of Samuel|Samuel]] || 4
|-
| [[Book of Judges|Judges]] || 4<ref name=Rezetko>{{cite journal |last=Rezetko |first=Robert |title=The Qumran Scrolls of the Book of Judges: Literary Formation, Textual Criticism, and Historical Linguistics |journal=Journal of Hebrew Scriptures |year=2013 |volume=13 |issue=2 |page=9 |doi=10.5508/jhs.2013.v13.a2 |doi-access=free |hdl=2066/120003 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
|-
| [[Song of Songs|Song of Songs (Canticles)]] || 4
|-
| [[Book of Ruth|Ruth]] || 4
|-
| [[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations]] || 4
|-
| Sirach || 3
|-
| [[Ecclesiastes]] || 2
|-
| Joshua || 2
|}

==Museum exhibitions and displays==
[[File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - Photo of the Day, Admiral Mike Mullen and Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz Visit Shrine of the Book.jpg|thumb|right|Visitors examining Dead Sea Scrolls displayed at the [[Shrine of the Book]] in Jerusalem]]
[[File:Strip of the Copper Scroll from Qumran Cave 3 written in the Hebrew Mishnaic dialect, on display at the Jordan Museum, Amman.jpg|thumb|Strip of the Copper Scroll from Qumran Cave 3 written in the Hebrew Mishnaic dialect, on display at the Jordan Museum, Amman]]

Small portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls collections have been put on temporary display in exhibitions at museums and public venues around the world. The majority of these exhibitions took place in 1965 in the United States and the United Kingdom and from 1993 to 2011 in locations around the world. Many of the exhibitions were co-sponsored by either the Jordanian government (pre-1967) or the Israeli government (post-1967). Exhibitions were discontinued after 1965 due to the [[Six-Day War]] conflicts and have slowed down in post-2011 as the IAA works to digitize the scrolls and place them in permanent cold storage.

The majority of the Dead Sea Scrolls collection was moved to Jerusalem's [[Shrine of the Book]] (a part of the Israel Museum) after the building's completion in April 1965.<ref name="EC">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,898691,00.html|title=Art: Endless Cave in Jerusalem|date=30 April 1965|magazine=Time|access-date=10 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606092331/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,898691,00.html|archive-date=6 June 2012}}</ref> The museum falls under the auspices of the IAA. The permanent exhibition at the museum features a reproduction of the Great Isaiah Scroll, surrounded by reproductions of other fragments that include Community Rule, the War Scroll, and the Thanksgiving Psalms Scroll.<ref name=":2">{{cite web | url=http://www.imj.org.il/shrine_center/shrinemap.asp?bss=13765&bscp=12940 |title= Map of the Shrine |work=imj.org.il |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326110448/http://www.imj.org.il/shrine_center/shrinemap.asp?bss=13765&bscp=12940 |archive-date=26 March 2013}}</ref><ref name=":3s">{{cite web|url=http://lluker.faculty.ltss.edu/SOB-STM.htm |title=The Shrine of the Book and Second Temple Model |access-date=10 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504093641/http://lluker.faculty.ltss.edu/SOB-STM.htm |archive-date=4 May 2012}}</ref>

Some of the collection held by the Jordanian government prior to 1967 was stored in Amman rather than at the [[Rockefeller Archeological Museum|Palestine Archaeological Museum]] in East Jerusalem. As a consequence, that part of the collection remained in Jordanian hands under their Department of Antiquities. Since 2013, the part of the collection held by Jordan has been on display at [[The Jordan Museum]] in Amman.<ref name="The new Jordan Museum">{{cite web |date=11 May 2011 |title=The new Jordan Museum |url=http://www.ritmeyer.com/2011/05/11/the-new-jordan-museum/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519062637/http://www.ritmeyer.com/2011/05/11/the-new-jordan-museum/ |archive-date=19 May 2012 |access-date=11 June 2012 |publisher=ritmeyer.com}}</ref> Among the display items are artefacts from the Qumran site and the Copper Scroll.<ref name=":4">{{cite web|url=http://luhot.ru/news/263/72/v-stolitse-iordanii-ammane-otkryt-novyj-iordanskij-muzej-hranyaschij-vazhnejshie-artefakty-biblejskoj-arheologii|title=Visit at the Jordan Museum, July 2013 (blog with pictures; in Russian)|access-date=19 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023135413/http://luhot.ru/news/263/72/v-stolitse-iordanii-ammane-otkryt-novyj-iordanskij-muzej-hranyaschij-vazhnejshie-artefakty-biblejskoj-arheologii|archive-date=23 October 2014}}</ref>

==Ownership==
[[File:DSS ad.jpg|thumb|right|Advertisement in ''The Wall Street Journal'' dated 1 June 1954 for four of the "Dead Sea Scrolls"]]

Upon their discovery in 1947 in what was then [[Mandatory Palestine]], the Dead Sea Scrolls were first moved to the Palestine Archaeological Museum. Following the [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank]] (including [[East Jerusalem]]) in the aftermath of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the museum's management become the responsibility of Jordan.

Following the [[Six-Day War|1967 Arab–Israeli War]], Jordan was defeated and Israel began to [[Israeli occupation of the West Bank|occupy the West Bank and East Jerusalem]]. The Palestine Archeological Museum (renamed the Rockefeller Archeological Museum) fell under Israeli administration, and the Dead Sea Scrolls collection held there was moved to the Shrine of the Book.{{r|EC}} Israel claims ownership of the Dead Sea Scrolls collection currently housed at the Israel Museum. This claimed ownership is contested by both Jordan and the [[Palestinian Authority]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Allen|first=Charlotte|date=14 December 2017|title=Who Owns the Dead Sea Scrolls?|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/who-owns-the-dead-sea-scrolls-1513293988|access-date=9 April 2021|issn=0099-9660}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Parties involved !! Party role !! Explanation of role
|-
| style="width: 150px;" | Jordan || style="width: 150px;" |Disputant; minority owner || Alleges that the Dead Sea Scrolls were stolen from the Palestine Archaeological Museum (now the Rockefeller Museum) operated by Jordan from 1966 until the Six-Day War when advancing Israeli forces took control of the museum, and that therefore they fall under the rules of the 1954 [[Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Jordan Claims Ownership of Dead Sea Scrolls |url=http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2010/January/Jordans-Claims-to-Dead-Sea-Scrolls-Ridiculous/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111021075551/http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2010/January/Jordans-Claims-to-Dead-Sea-Scrolls-Ridiculous/ |archive-date=21 October 2011 |access-date=14 June 2012 |publisher=CBN}}</ref> Jordan regularly demands their return and petitions third-party countries that host the scrolls to return them to Jordan instead of to Israel, claiming they have legal documents that prove Jordanian ownership of the scrolls.<ref>{{cite web |date=2 January 2010 |title=Arabs Claim Dead Sea Scrolls |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/135318 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130206165815/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/135318 |archive-date=6 February 2013 |access-date=14 June 2012 |work=Arutz Sheva}}</ref>
|-
| Israel || Disputant; current majority holder || After the Six-Day War Israel seized the scrolls and moved them to the Shrine of the Book in the Israel Museum. Israel disputes Jordan's claim and states that Jordan never lawfully possessed the scrolls since it was an unlawful occupier of the museum and region.<ref>{{cite news |last=El-Shamayleh |first=Nisreen |date=3 November 2010 |title=Anger over Dead Sea Scrolls (video) |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/video/middleeast/2010/11/201011294521445917.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101103184943/http://english.aljazeera.net/video/middleeast/2010/11/201011294521445917.html |archive-date=3 November 2010 |access-date=3 November 2010 |publisher=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=McGregor-Wood |first=Simon |date=14 January 2010 |title=Who Owns the Dead Sea Scrolls? |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Travel/israel-jordan-fighting-dead-sea-scrolls/story?id=9558941 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702072212/https://abcnews.go.com/Travel/israel-jordan-fighting-dead-sea-scrolls/story?id=9558941 |archive-date=2 July 2020 |access-date=27 June 2020 |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Khatib |first=Ahmad |date=11 January 2010 |title=Jordan wants the Dead Sea Scrolls back from Israel |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j4Lm1ed__c-wKiQ_t-9Af70OIMSw |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525113615/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j4Lm1ed__c-wKiQ_t-9Af70OIMSw |archive-date=25 May 2012 |access-date=20 February 2016 |publisher=[[Agence France-Presse]]}}</ref>
|-
| Palestine || Disputant || The Palestinian Authority also claims ownership of the scrolls.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ross |first=Oakland |date=9 April 2009 |title=Dead Sea Scrolls stir storm at ROM |url=https://www.thestar.com/article/616059 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404102932/http://www.thestar.com/article/616059 |archive-date=4 April 2012 |access-date=26 August 2017 |work=Toronto Star}}</ref>
|}

===Forgeries and claimed private ownership===
Arrangements with the Bedouins left the scrolls in the hands of a third party until a profitable sale of them could be negotiated. That third party, George Isha'ya, was a member of the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]], who soon contacted [[Saint Mark Monastery of Jerusalem|St Mark's Monastery]] in the hope of getting an appraisal of the nature of the texts. News of the find then reached [[Metropolitan bishop|Metropolitan]] Athanasius Yeshue Samuel, better known as Mar Samuel. After examining the scrolls and suspecting their antiquity, Mar Samuel expressed an interest in purchasing them. Four scrolls found their way into his hands: the Isaiah Scroll ([[1QIs-a|1QIsa<sup>a</sup>]]), the Community Rule, the Habakkuk Pesher (a commentary on the [[book of Habakkuk]]), and the Genesis Apocryphon. More scrolls soon surfaced in the antiquities market, and Professor [[Eleazer Sukenik]] and Professor [[Benjamin Mazar]], archaeologists at Hebrew University, soon found themselves in possession of three, The War Scroll, Thanksgiving Hymns, and another, more fragmented, Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa<sup>b</sup>).

Four of the Dead Sea Scrolls eventually went up for sale in an advertisement on 1 June 1954, ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Dead Sea Scrolls – Discovery and Publication|url=https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/discovery-and-publication?locale=en_US|publisher=Israel Antiquities Authority|access-date=4 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614023049/http://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/discovery-and-publication?locale=en_US|archive-date=14 June 2015}}</ref> On 1 July 1954, the scrolls, after delicate negotiations and accompanied by three people including Mar Samuel, arrived at the [[Waldorf-Astoria Hotel]] in New York. They were purchased by Professor Mazar and the son of Professor Sukenik, Yigael Yadin, for $250,000 (approximately ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|250000|1954|r=-5}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}), and brought to Jerusalem.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/deadsea.html|title=History & Overview of the Dead Sea Scrolls|publisher=Jewish Virtual Library|access-date=13 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008223510/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/deadsea.html|archive-date=8 October 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

Since 2002, many forgeries of Dead Sea Scrolls have appeared on black markets.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/dead-sea-scrolls-scam-dozens-of-recently-sold-fragments-are-fakes-experts-warn/|title=Dead Sea Scrolls scam: Dozens of recently sold fragments are fakes, experts warn|work=The Times of Israel|date=3 October 2017|access-date=20 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026015958/https://www.timesofisrael.com/dead-sea-scrolls-scam-dozens-of-recently-sold-fragments-are-fakes-experts-warn/|archive-date=26 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2020, the [[Museum of the Bible]] in the United States (also known as [[Green Collection]]) reported that all 16 purported "Dead Sea Scroll fragments" they had acquired between 2009 and 2014{{r|history.com}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.museumofthebible.org/museum-of-the-bible-releases-research-findings-unpublished-dead-sea-scrolls-fragments|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924145720/https://www.museumofthebible.org/museum-of-the-bible-releases-research-findings-unpublished-dead-sea-scrolls-fragments|archive-date=24 September 2016|title=Museum of the Bible Releases Research Findings on 13 Unpublished Dead Sea Scrolls Fragments}}</ref> were in fact modern forgeries.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gannon |first=Megan |date=22 October 2018 |title=Dead Sea Scroll Fragments in Museum of the Bible Are Fake |url=https://www.livescience.com/63895-dead-sea-scroll-fakes.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711035121/https://www.livescience.com/63895-dead-sea-scroll-fakes.html |archive-date=11 July 2019 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Live Science]] |access-date=2 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Greshko |first=Michael |title='Dead Sea Scrolls' at the Museum of the Bible are all forgeries |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/03/museum-of-the-bible-dead-sea-scrolls-forgeries/ |publisher=[[National Geographic]] |date=13 March 2020 |access-date= 13 March 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200314005637/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/03/museum-of-the-bible-dead-sea-scrolls-forgeries/ |archive-date= 14 March 2020 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ List of claimed private ownerships of Dead Sea Scroll fragments
|-
! Claimed Owner !! Year acquired !! Number of Fragments/Scrolls Owned
|-
| [[Azusa Pacific University]]<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.apu.edu/media/news/release/25415 | title=Publication of Azusa Pacific University's Dead Sea Scrolls to Enhance Biblical Scholarship | access-date=15 November 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115175606/https://www.apu.edu/media/news/release/25415/ | archive-date=15 November 2019 }}</ref> || 2009 || 5
|-
| [[Oriental Institute, Chicago|Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/HIGH/OIM_A30303_72dpi.html | title = Fragment of a scroll (Palestine: Qumran, Cave 4, 6.4&nbsp;cm H, 4.2&nbsp;cm W) |access-date=14 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520075115/https://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/HIGH/OIM_A30303_72dpi.html |archive-date=20 May 2013 }}</ref> || 1956 || 1
|-
| [[Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/04/13/3882403/fort-worth-seminary-unveils-newly.html | title = Fort Worth seminary unveils newly acquired Dead Sea Scrolls fragment | date = 14 April 2012 |access-date=14 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115114307/http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/04/13/3882403/fort-worth-seminary-unveils-newly.html |archive-date=15 November 2012 }}</ref> || 2009; 2010; 2012 || 8
|-
| Israel Museum – Government of Israel<ref>{{cite web |author=Drori |first=Amir |title=The Completion of the Publication of the Scrolls |url=http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=17&sub_subj_id=523#MMMas |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523092819/http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=17&sub_subj_id=523#MMMas |archive-date=23 May 2012 |access-date=14 June 2012 |publisher=Israel Antiquities Authority}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=17&sub_subj_id=522#MMMas|title=Conservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls|publisher=Israel Antiquities Authority|author=Pnina Shor|access-date=14 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523101658/http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=17&sub_subj_id=522#MMMas|archive-date=23 May 2012}}</ref> || 1967 || > 15,000
|-
| The [[Schøyen Collection]] owned by Martin Schøyen<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.schoyencollection.com/dsscrolls.html|title=12. Dead Sea Scrolls|publisher=The Schoyen Collection|access-date=14 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610152451/http://www.schoyencollection.com/dsscrolls.html|archive-date=10 June 2012}}</ref> || 1980; 1994; 1995 || 115<ref name="history.com">
{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/news/secrets-of-new-dead-sea-scrolls-come-to-light|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013130409/http://www.history.com/news/secrets-of-new-dead-sea-scrolls-come-to-light |title=Secrets of New Dead Sea Scrolls Come to Light|date=11 October 2016|access-date=31 January 2018|first1=Sarah|last1=Pruitt|archive-date=13 October 2016|website=history.com|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| The Jordan Museum – Government of Jordan{{r|The new Jordan Museum}} || 1947–1956 || > 25
|-
| Syrian Orthodox Church's eastern U.S. archdiocese<ref name="Live Science">{{cite news|last1=Jarus|first1=Owen|title=28 New Dead Sea Scrolls Fragments Sold in US|url=http://www.livescience.com/58507-new-dead-sea-scrolls-sold-in-us.html|access-date=4 April 2017|work=Live Science|date=3 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409071412/https://www.livescience.com/58507-new-dead-sea-scrolls-sold-in-us.html|archive-date=9 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> || || 1
|-
| [[Ashland Theological Seminary]]{{r|Live Science}} ||  || 1
|-
| [[Lanier Theological Library]]{{r|Live Science}} ||  || 1
|-
| Pasadena Private Collection{{r|Live Science}} ||  || 1
|}

===Copyright disputes===
{{Expert needed | law |2=section |reason=Complexity of copyright law surrounding historical documents in the United States and other nations |date=June 2012 }}

There are three types of documents relating to the Dead Sea Scrolls in which copyright status can be considered ambiguous; the documents themselves, images taken of the documents, and reproductions of the documents. This ambiguity arises from differences in [[copyright]] law across different countries and the variable interpretation of such law.

In 1992 a copyright case ''[[Qimron v. Shanks]]'' was brought before the Israeli District court by scholar Elisha Qimron against Hershel Shanks of the Biblical Archaeology Society for violations of United States copyright law regarding his publishing of reconstructions of Dead Sea Scroll texts done by Qimron in ''A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls'' which were included without his permission. Qimron's suit against the Biblical Archaeology Society was done on the grounds that the research they had published was his intellectual property as he had reconstructed about 40% of the published text. In 1993, the district court Judge [[Dalia Dorner]] ruled for the plaintiff, Elisha Qimron, in context of both United States and Israeli copyright law and granted the highest compensation allowed by law for aggravation in compensation against Hershel Shanks and others.<ref name="houstonlawreview.org">{{cite web |last=Nimmer |first=David |work=Houston Law Review |title=Copyright in the Dead Sea Scrolls |url=http://www.houstonlawreview.org/archive/downloads/38-1_pdf/HLR38P1.pdf |access-date=15 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130923111121/http://www.houstonlawreview.org/archive/downloads/38-1_pdf/HLR38P1.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2013 }}</ref> In an appeal in 2000 in front of Judge [[Aharon Barak]], the verdict was upheld in [[Israeli Supreme Court]] in Qimron's favour.<ref>{{cite news |date=23 October 2018 |title=Dead Sea Scrolls |url=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/d/dead_sea_scrolls/index.html?query=SHANKS,%20HERSHEL&field=per&match=exact |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213235332/http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/d/dead_sea_scrolls/index.html?query=SHANKS,%20HERSHEL&field=per&match=exact |archive-date=13 February 2012 |access-date=15 June 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York, New York}}</ref> The court case established the two main principles from which facsimiles are examined under copyright law of the United States and Israel: authorship and originality.

The court's ruling not only affirms that the "deciphered text" of the scrolls can fall under copyright of individuals or groups, but makes it clear that the Dead Sea Scrolls themselves do not fall under this copyright law and scholars have a degree of, in the words of U.S. copyright law professor [[David Nimmer]], "freedom" in access. Nimmer has shown how this freedom was in the theory of law applicable, but how it did not exist in reality as the IAA tightly controlled access to the scrolls and photographs of the scrolls.{{r|houstonlawreview.org}}

==See also==
* [[Ancient Hebrew writings]]
* ''[[Book of Mysteries]]''
* [[Cairo Geniza]]
* [[Jordan Lead Codices]]
* [[Ketef Hinnom scrolls]] (7th/6th century BCE), oldest items containing biblical text (a variation of Numbers 6:24–26 etc.)
* [[Nag Hammadi library]]
* [[Oxyrhynchus Papyri]]
* [[Teacher of Righteousness]]

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}
{{Reflist|group=n}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
'''Books'''
{{refbegin|40em}}
* {{Cite book | first1=Martin | last1=Abegg Jr. | first2=James E. | last2=Bowley | author-link2=James E. Bowley | first3=Edward M. | last3=Cook | first4=Emanuel | last4=Tov | author-link4=Emanuel Tov | title=The Dead Sea Scrolls Concordance | volume=1 | year=2003 | publisher=Brill | location=Leiden | isbn=90-04-12521-3 | url=https://brill.com/display/package/9789004310391?}}
* {{Cite book | first=John Marco | last=Allegro | author-link=John Marco Allegro | title=The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth | year=1979 | publisher=Westbridge Books | location=Devon | isbn=0-7153-7680-2}}
* {{Cite book | first=Simon | last=Berg | title=Insights into the Dead Sea Scrolls: A Beginner's Guide | year=2009 | publisher=BookSurge Publishing | location=Charleston | isbn=978-1-5466-3831-5}}
* {{Cite book | first=Gabriele | last=Boccaccini | title=Beyond the Essene Hypothesis: The Parting of Ways between Qumran and Enochic Judaism | year=1998 | publisher=Eerdmans | location=Grand Rapids | isbn=978-0-8028-4360-9}}
* {{Cite book | first=Millar | last=Burrows | author-link=Millar Burrows | title=The Dead Sea Scrolls | year=1955 | publisher=Viking | location=New York | isbn=0-517-62535-0 }}
* {{Cite book | first=Millar | last=Burrows | author-link=Millar Burrows | title=More Light on the Dead Sea Scrolls: New Scrolls and New Interpretations, with Translations of Important Recent Discoveries | year=1958 | publisher=Viking | location=New York | isbn=978-0-670-48916-9}}
* {{Cite book | editor-first=H. | editor-last=Ringgren | first=James H. | last=Charlesworth | contribution=The Theologies of the Dead Sea Scrolls | title=The Faith of Qumran: Theology of the Dead Sea Scrolls | pages=xv–xxi | year=1995 | publisher=Crossroad | location=New York | isbn=978-0-8245-1258-3}}
* Chernoivanenko, Vitaly. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20160317215902/http://history.ukma.edu.ua/docs/faculty/chernoivanenko/publications/chernoivanenko_jerusalem-theoryen.pdf The Jerusalem Theory of the Dead Sea Scrolls Authorship: Origins, Evolution, and Discussions]," in ''Ukrainian Orientalistics: Special Issue on Jewish Studies'', Кyiv: NaUKMA Omeljan Pritsak Center for Oriental Studies, 2011: 9–29.
* Collins, John J., ''Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls'', New York: Routledge, 1997.
* Collins, John J., and [[Craig A. Evans]]. ''Christian Beginnings and the Dead Sea Scrolls'', Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006. {{ISBN?}}
* Cook, Edward M. (1994). ''Solving the Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls: New Light on the Bible'', Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
* [[Frank Moore Cross|Cross, Frank Moore]] (1995). ''The Ancient Library of Qumran'', 3rd ed., Minneapolis: Fortress Press. {{ISBN|0800628071}}
* [[A. Powell Davies|Davies, A. Powell]] (1956). ''The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls.'' Signet. {{ISBN?}}
* [[Philip R. Davies|Davies, Philip R.]], [[George J. Brooke]], and Phillip R. Callaway (2002). ''The Complete World of the Dead Sea Scrolls'', London: Thames & Hudson. {{ISBN|0500051119}}
* de Vaux, Roland, ''Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls'' (Schweich Lectures of the British Academy, 1959). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973. {{ISBN?}}
* Dimant, Devorah, and [[Uriel Rappaport]] (eds.), ''The Dead Sea Scrolls: Forty Years of Research'', Leiden and Jerusalem: E.J. Brill, Magnes Press, Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 1992.
* [[Robert Eisenman|Eisenman, Robert H.]], ''The Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Christians'', Shaftesbury: Element, 1996.
* {{Cite book | first1=Robert H. | last1=Eisenman | first2=Michael | last2=O. Wise | title=The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered: The First Complete Translation and Interpretation of 50 Key Documents Withheld for Over 35 Years | year=1993 | publisher=Element | location=Shaftesbury | isbn=978-0-14-023250-9}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20160810201940/http://www.filbluz.ca/resources/DeadSeaRolls_eisenman%26wise.pdf 1992].
* Eisenman, Robert H. and James Robinson, ''A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls'' 2 vol., Washington, D.C.: Biblical Archaeology Society, 1991.
* Fitzmyer, Joseph A., ''Responses to 101 Questions on the Dead Sea Scrolls'', Paulist Press 1992, {{ISBN|0809133482}}
* Galor, Katharina, Jean-Baptiste Humbert, and Jürgen Zangenberg. ''Qumran: The Site of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Archaeological Interpretations and Debates: Proceedings of a Conference held at Brown University, 17–19 November 2002'', Edited by Florentino García Martínez, Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 57. Leiden: Brill, 2006.
* García-Martinez, Florentino, ''The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated: The Qumran Texts in English,'' (Translated from Spanish into English by Wilfred G. E. Watson) (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994).
* García Martínez Florentino, Eibert J.C. Tigchelaar, Editors, ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20160615144741/http://www.filbluz.ca/resources/_The.Dead.Sea.Scrolls.Study.Edition_Martinez-Tigchelaar.pdf The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition]'', Brill, 1999
* [[Theodor Gaster|Gaster, Theodor H.]], ''The Dead Sea Scriptures'', Peter Smith Pub Inc., 1976. {{ISBN|0844667021}}
* [[Norman Golb|Golb, Norman]], ''Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? The Search for the Secret of Qumran'', New York: Scribner, 1995.
* Golb, Norman, ''[http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/jerusalem_origin_dss.pdf On the Jerusalem Origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610094416/http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/jerusalem_origin_dss.pdf |date=10 June 2010 }}'', [[University of Chicago Oriental Institute]], 5 June 2009.
* Heline, Theodore, ''Dead Sea Scrolls'', New Age Bible & Philosophy Center, 1957, Reprint edition 1987, {{ISBN|0933963165}}
* [[Yizhar Hirschfeld|Hirschfeld, Yizhar]], Qumran in Context: Reassessing the Archaeological Evidence, Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004.
* Israeli, Raphael, ''[https://archive.today/20110305122432/http://www.transactionpub.com/cgi-bin/transactionpublishers.storefront/en/Product/1-4128-0703-4 Routledge] Piracy in Qumran: The Battle over the Scrolls of the Pre-Christ Era]'', Transaction Publishers: 2008 {{ISBN|978-1412807036}}
* Khabbaz, C., "Les manuscrits de la mer Morte et le secret de leurs auteurs", Beirut, 2006. (Ce livre identifie les auteurs des fameux manuscrits de la mer Morte et dévoile leur secret).
* Magen, Yizhak, and Yuval Peleg, ''The Qumran Excavations 1993–2004: Preliminary Report'', JSP 6 (Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority, 2007) [http://www.antiquities.org.il/images/shop/jsp/JSP6_Qumran_color.pdf Download] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128071000/http://www.antiquities.org.il/images/shop/jsp/JSP6_Qumran_color.pdf |date=28 November 2007 }}
* Magen, Yizhak, and Yuval Peleg, "Back to Qumran: Ten years of Excavations and Research, 1993–2004," in The Site of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Archaeological Interpretations and Debates (Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 57), Brill, 2006 (pp.&nbsp;55–116).
* Magness, Jodi, ''The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls'', Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.
* Maier, Johann, ''The Temple Scroll,'' [German edition was 1978], (Sheffield:JSOT Press [Supplement 34], 1985).
* [[Jozef Milik|Milik, Józef Tadeusz]], ''Ten Years of Discovery in the Wilderness of Judea'', London: SCM, 1959.
* Muro, E. A., "The Greek Fragments of Enoch from Qumran Cave 7 (7Q4, 7Q8, &7Q12 = 7QEn gr = Enoch 103:3–4, 7–8)." ''Revue de Qumran'' 18, no. 70 (1997): 307, 12, pl. 1.
* O'Callaghan-Martínez, Josep, ''Cartas Cristianas Griegas del Siglo V'', Barcelona: E. Balmes, 1963.
* [[Elisha Qimron|Qimron, Elisha]], ''The Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls'', Harvard Semitic Studies, 1986. (This is a ''serious'' discussion of the Hebrew language of the scrolls.)
* Rengstorf, Karl Heinrich, ''Hirbet Qumran und die Bibliothek vom Toten Meer'', Translated by J.R. Wilkie. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1960.
* Roitman, Adolfo, ed. A Day at Qumran: The Dead Sea Sect and Its Scrolls. Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 1998.
* [[James A. Sanders|Sanders, James A.]], ed. ''Dead Sea scrolls: The Psalms scroll of Qumrân Cave 11 (11QPsa)'', (1965) Oxford, Clarendon Press.
* [[Lawrence Schiffman|Schiffman, Lawrence H.]], ''Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls: their True Meaning for Judaism and Christianity'', Anchor Bible Reference Library (Doubleday) 1995, {{ISBN|0385481217}}, (Schiffman has suggested two plausible theories of origin and identity – a Sadducean splinter group, or perhaps an Essene group with Sadducean roots.) Excerpts of this book can be read at [https://web.archive.org/web/20080914171731/http://cojs.org/cojswiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls COJS: Dead Sea Scrolls].
* [[Lawrence H. Schiffman|Schiffman, Lawrence H.]], and James C. VanderKam, eds. ''Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls''. 2 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
* Shanks, Hershel, ''The Mystery and Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls'', Vintage Press 1999, {{ISBN|0679780890}} (recommended introduction to their discovery and history of their scholarship)
* Stegemann, Hartmut. "The Qumran Essenes: Local Members of the Main Jewish Union in Late Second Temple Times." pp.&nbsp;83–166 in ''The Madrid Qumran Congress: Proceedings of the International Congress on the Dead Sea Scrolls, Madrid, 18–21 March 1991'', Edited by J. Trebolle Barrera and L. Vegas Mountainer. Vol. 11 of Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah. Leiden: Brill, 1992.
* {{Cite book | first=Carsten Peter | last=Thiede | title=The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Jewish Origins of Christianity | year=2000 | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan | location=London | isbn=0-312-29361-5}}
* [[Barbara Thiering|Thiering, Barbara]], ''Jesus the Man'', New York: Atria, 2006.
* Thiering, Barbara, ''Jesus and the Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls'' ({{ISBN|0060677821}}), New York: HarperCollins, 1992
* {{Cite book | first=Yigael | last=Yadin | title=The Temple Scroll: The Hidden Law of the Dead Sea Sect | year=1985 | publisher=Random House | location=New York}}
{{refend}}

'''Other sources'''
{{refbegin}}
* ''Dead Sea Scrolls Study'' Vol 1: 1Q1 – 4Q273, Vol. 2: 4Q274 – 11Q31, (compact disc), Logos Research Systems, Inc., (contains the non-biblical portion of the scrolls with Hebrew and Aramaic transcriptions in parallel with English translations)
* [http://www.accordancebible.com/Comprehensive-Crossreferences Comprehensive Cross Reference interactive module for Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus, Philo, Nag Hammadi Library, Pseudepigrapha, Old Testament Apocrypha, New Testament Apocrypha, Plato, Pythagoras, Dhammapada, Egyptian Book of the Dead, Tacitus, Talmud, New and Old Testaments, Apostolic and Early Church Fathers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170714044855/https://www.accordancebible.com/Comprehensive-Crossreferences |date=14 July 2017 }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book | first=Roland Kenneth | last=Harrison | title=The Dead Sea Scrolls: An Introduction | year=1961 | publisher=Harper | oclc=1074346286 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jiwPAQAAIAAJ}}
* {{Cite journal | editor-first1=Angela Kim | editor-last1=Harkins | author1-link=Angela Kim Harkins | editor-first2=Mladen | editor-last2=Popoviç | title=Religious Experience and the Dead Sea Scrolls | journal=Dead Sea Discoveries | year=2015 | volume=22 | issue=3 | url=https://brill.com/view/journals/dsd/22/3/dsd.22.issue-3.xml?language=en}}
* {{Cite book | first=Edna | last=Ullmann-Margalit | author-link= Edna Ullmann-Margalit | title=Out of the Cave: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Dead Sea Scrolls Research | year=2006 | publisher=Harvard University Press }}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikisource}}
* [http://www.bibleplaces.com/qumrancaves/ Bible Places: Qumran Caves]
* [http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1725431/jewish/what-are-the-dead-sea-scrolls.htm Chabad.org: What are the Dead Sea Scrolls?]
* [http://www.imj.org.il/en/wings/shrine-book/dead-sea-scrolls Israel Museum, Jerusalem: Shrine of the Book – Dead Sea Scrolls]
* [http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/dead-sea-scrolls/ My Jewish Learning: Dead Sea Scrolls]

{{Dead Sea Scrolls}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dead Sea Scrolls}}
[[Category:Dead Sea Scrolls| ]]
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