Dead Sea Scroll Fragments With Biblical Verses Discovered in Judean Desert Cave
The Cave of Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were originally discovered. Creative Commons photo.
JERUSALEM — Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) archaeologists announced on Mar. 16 that dozens of Dead Sea Scroll fragments bearing verses from the Hebrew Bible were discovered in a cave in the Judean Desert. The fragments, written in Greek on parchment, feature portions of the books of the Twelve Minor Prophets, including the books of Zechariah and Nahum.
The parchment fragments were discovered as part of an IAA operation launched in 2017 to foil antiquities robbers plundering historic sites in the desert. These documents were found in the Cave of Horror in the Nahal Hever Nature Reserve, near the salt lake.
The discovery marks the first time in almost six decades that authentic Dead Sea Scrolls fragments have come to light. Forgers have produced hundreds of tiny fragments since the first Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in a cave at Qumran in 1947. Among the institutions duped into buying the fragments was the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.
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As well as the scroll fragments, the IAA also uncovered a cache of silver coins from the Bar Kochba Revolt 132-135 CE), a 6,000-year-old partially mummified skeleton of a child wrapped in cloth and a complete basket dating back 10,500 years, believed to be the oldest in the world.
“The desert team showed exceptional courage, dedication and devotion to purpose, rappelling down to caves located between heaven and earth, digging and sifting through them, enduring thick and suffocating dust, and returning with gifts of immeasurable worth for mankind,” said IAA director Israel Hasson in a press release.
The Dead Sea Scrolls include the earliest known copies of the Hebrew Bible, as well as apocryphal and sectarian texts from 2,000 years ago. They are considered the most important archaeological discovery of the 20th century.
Gil Zohar was born in Toronto, Canada and moved to Jerusalem, Israel in 1982. He is a journalist writing for The Jerusalem Post, Segula magazine, and other publications. He’s also a professional tour guide who likes to weave together the Holy Land’s multiple narratives.