Archaeology & History

New Dead Sea Scrolls cave found in Israel

By T.K. Randall
February 9, 2017

Image: Dead Sea Scroll 28a at the Jordan Museum in Amman
Credit: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) Considered to be some of the most significant ancient texts ever discovered, the Dead Sea Scrolls are comprised of several hundred documents dating back more than 2,000 years. They were found inside eleven caves in the eastern Judaean Desert between 1946 and 1956.

This new cave, which was found by archaeologists from Israel, is believed to be the twelfth, even though it appears as though the scrolls had been looted by the Bedouin people in the 1950s.

All that remains inside now are a few jars, leather scraps and fragments of parchment."Until now, it was accepted that Dead Sea Scrolls were found only in 11 caves at Qumran, but now there is no doubt that this is the 12th cave," said Dr Oren Gutfeld.

"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."

"The findings include the jars in which the scrolls and their covering were hidden, a leather strap for binding the scroll, a cloth that wrapped the scrolls, tendons and pieces of skin connecting fragments, and more."

Source: BBC News

Tags: Dead Sea Scrolls