INTRODUCTION

Ancient scribes. Sacred scrolls. Hidden in desert caves. Discovered by Bedouin shepherds nearly 2000 years later. Who wrote them? Why were they hidden? And what vital message do they have for us today?

In the first century AD, about 70 years after the birth of Christ, members of a mysterious religious sect hid a collection of over 900 sacred scrolls in caves in the Judean desert bordering the Dead Sea.

The chance discovery of the ancient scrolls 2000 years later by Bedouin shepherds was considered one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time and sent shock waves through the world of Bible scholarship.

Who wrote them? Why were they hidden? And why are they so important to us today? Join me as we travel to Qumran in search of answers.

BURIED TREASURE

Buried treasure. Hoards of it! Yes, I know where there is enough hidden wealth to boggle the imagination. There are boxes of precious incense, and vast quantities of gold and silver – all told 200 tonnes of the stuff, worth over a billion dollars, lying 5 to 6 metres under the ground. All buried in the desert by a strange religious sect.

To get the breath-taking details I’ve come to the Middle East to visit one of the most inhospitable places in all the world – but one that has captured the imagination of people everywhere and popularized the science of archaeology.

To get there we’ve got to leave the sacred city of Jerusalem and travel east through the Judean Desert. Here the mountainous landscape plummets dramatically 1200 metres to the blistering hot basin of the Dead Sea.

THE DESERT OASIS

On the way, we pass the sea-level sign. However, we still haven’t reached the sea. Although the plaque says “Sea Level” we still have to keep going down and down. We’re on our way to the lowest place on earth. The Dead Sea is 400 meters, or 1312 feet, below sea level. It’s the lowest place on planet earth’s land surface. So, we’ve still got a long way to go.

The Dead Sea is 50kms long and 15 kms wide and reaches a depth of 400 meters. It covers an area of 605 square kms. Virtually all of its water comes from the Jordan River which flows into it from the north. The Dead Sea has no outlet. In Hebrew it’s called the Sea of Salt.

It’s the world’s saltiest body of water, ten times more salty than sea water. In fact, nearly a third of it consists of dissolved salt and other minerals. Its super-saline waters make floating easy. It’s so salty you can’t sink. You can float in the Dead Sea and read a book without fear of sinking.

The Dead Sea has attracted visitors for thousands of years. It was one of the world’s first health resorts for Herod the Great, and it has been a supplier of a wide variety of products, from asphalt for Egyptian mummification to potash and fertilisers. People also use the salt and minerals from the Dead Sea to create cosmetics and herbal sachets.

It rarely rains here, and summer temperatures often reach 45 degrees Celsius. It’s a harsh and inhospitable environment. Near the north-western shore of the Dead Sea, in a wilderness of terrible beauty, is a hillside that is honeycombed with caves. This is the site of one of the most exciting discoveries of all time.

Many archaeologists are convinced that the treasure found in this area is more valuable than all the gold and wealth found in the ancient tombs of kings and pharaohs. The discovery here happened by accident.

THE DISCOVERY

One day in 1947 a Bedouin boy called Mohammed the Wolf was minding some goats near these cliffs along the shores of the Dead Sea. Now these goats are very agile and are able to climb incredible heights in search of the tender green tufts of grass that grow in springtime among the pebbles and sand of this desert region.

One of the shaggy goats that Mohammed the Wolf was minding chanced to stray from the rest of the flock. While searching for this aggravating animal, he noticed a small cave in the rocky cliffs that he hadn’t noticed before. Thinking that his goat may have taken shelter in the cave from the blistering summer heat, Mohammed picked up a stone and threw it into the cave.

But the sound that came back to him was not the familiar echo or stone striking stone. He was startled to hear the strange, echoing sound of shattering pottery. Panic-stricken, he rushed away in fear of evil spirits. But was it an evil spirit? Or was it gold?

Now, Mohammed the Wolf belonged to a group of smugglers from the Ta’amireh tribe who were trying to get their live-stock and other goods out of Jordan and into Palestine. They were on their way to Bethlehem to sell their goods on the black market.

They’d detoured far south to the northern shores of the Dead Sea to avoid crossing the Jordan bridge which custom officers guarded with guns. And they’d set up camp at Ein Fashka, the desert oasis near the ancient ruins of Qumran.
These nomadic Arab people inhabit the vast desert regions of the Middle East and have a culture of herding camels and goats. These animals comprise their livelihood and are used for meat, dairy products and wool. The Bedouin travel from place to place looking for water and grazing for their animals.

Because they have to be mobile, they carry all of their worldly possessions with them as they travel. They live in large tents that they pitch when they find a suitable location.

The tents are made by hand of goat and sheep hair and provide ideal shelter in the desert. Its loosely woven material lets air come in and the smoke out, so the tent is pleasant in summer. However, on rare occasions when it rains, the fibers get swollen and the tent becomes waterproof. So, these grand tents are ideal for the Bedouins’ nomadic lifestyle and function in all conditions.

That night as Mohammed the Wolf sat in the family tent, he told his cousin of his experience. The boys were intrigued by possibilities of what the cave may contain. What was in there? What secrets lay hidden in its dark interior?

The next morning found the boys on the mountain side at the cave. Dreaming of a trove of hidden treasure, the boys squeezed through the narrow opening and dropped into the cave.

To their amazement, they discovered that there was a collection of large dust-covered pottery jars standing on the floor of the cave. Eagerly the boys removed the lids. Imagine their disappointment when they discovered that the jars contained only rolls of old leather covered with strange writing, all carefully wrapped in cloth and blackened by age.

They had hoped to find a hoard of treasure of gold and silver, but instead they found brittle old scrolls that were not much use for anything. They were deeply disappointed. But actually, they had found treasure, even though they didn’t know it. They had found the treasures now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

On that legendary day, not realising their value or significance the disappointed Bedouin boys stuffed the three scrolls into their shirts and took them back to camp hoping they might get a bit of money for them in Bethlehem. During the next couple of weeks, the boys discovered four more scrolls in the cave and couple of unbroken scroll-jars.

THE JOURNEY

Over the next few months, the scrolls hung from tent poles in the Bedouin camp. Eventually, the Bedouin took the scrolls and two jars to a shopkeeper and cobbler friend in Bethlehem by the name of Kando. At first no one was interested in the dirty old scrolls. An employee of the Department of Antiquities called them ‘worthless.’

Kando decided to buy four of the ancient scrolls. He felt that, if nothing else, they may have some use as leather for shoe repairs. The remaining three scrolls were sold to an antiquities dealer named Salahi. Kando then resold the four scrolls he had to Archbishop Samuel, head of the Syrian Orthodox Monastery of St. Mark in Jerusalem.

The journey of the scrolls then becomes stranger than fiction – truly amazing. A Hebrew University Professor, Eliezer Sukenik heard about the scrolls and set out to investigate the significance of the discoveries. It was extremely dangerous. Arab – Jewish tensions were high, as the modern State of Israel was emerging.

But Sukenik was prepared to risk everything for the scrolls. He travelled to meet an Armenian antiquities dealer at the British divided military zone on the Jerusalem border. In this clandestine meeting, the dealer held up a fragment of leather for the Jewish professor to examine.

THE SIGNIFICANCE

As Sukenik peered through the barbed wire, he immediately recognised the ancient Hebrew writing. Eager to see more, Sukenik travelled with the dealer to Arab Bethlehem to see Salahi who had the first 3 scrolls. He was amazed to see the Hebrew scrolls and agreed to purchase them. It was the first time the scrolls had been read for 2000 years.

As tensions in the Middle East burst into war, the Archbishop smuggled the remaining 4 scrolls from Jerusalem to America. There he advertised them in a Wall Street Journal classifieds ad. In a strange twist of fate, Yigael Yadin, Professor Sukenik’s son and an Israeli war hero, bought all 4 of the scrolls through a front man. The first seven original scrolls were united again, in Israel.

Well, when news that the scrolls were very valuable reached the Bedouin and their friends, hundreds of treasure hunters rushed to the area near the Dead Sea. They searched every conceivable crevice, rock formation, and hillside cave that might possibly hide more precious scrolls. In 10 new caves they found the remains of over 900 scrolls.

One cave, Cave 4, once had 500 scrolls hidden in it. Most of these scrolls had been broken into small pieces. Altogether, about 40,000 pieces came from cave 4. Each one had to be bought from the Arabs who found them, at an average price of $4 per square centimetre.

These thousands of fragments were brought to the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem. They were laid out in the courtyard and sorted. Then specialists began the long and tedious task of piecing the scrolls back together again – and deciphering the strange writing, an ancient form of Hebrew.
Archaeologists returned to the rugged Dead Sea shore line and re-explored the area. Their efforts were rewarded when they found a cave that contained a most unusual scroll. They discovered three strips of finely beaten copper that had been inscribed and rolled up into a scroll.

As the archaeologists searched the caves and found more fragments they realised that these scrolls had been part of a large library. But who wrote them, and why did they hide them in the desert?

Well, the answer lay 100 metres from Cave 4 where they found the largest cache of scroll fragments – here in some old ruins that had been on maps for decades. These Qumran ruins, were mistakenly assumed to be remains of an old Roman fort.

Now archaeologists began excavations which revealed that the ruins had been a monastery of a Jewish sect, the Essenes, around the time of Christ. The excavations revealed a lot about the community that lived here. There was a large kitchen and a dining room which contained thousands of plates and bowls. Clearly a large number of people ate together here.

They had large cisterns for containing water. The region is very dry and in order to obtain water the people made a canal to draw rainwater from the hills behind. The cisterns are big enough to supply the needs of hundreds of people.

There are storage rooms where they kept their produce and supplies. They had workshops for potters and laundrymen. A large watchtower ensured they had ample warning of approaching danger. Nearly every phase of the life of these remarkable people has been pieced together by the scholars who unearthed this self-sufficient community.

But why did these people choose to live in such an uncomfortable, isolated place? The nearby cliffs are rugged and bare, the plateau is flat, dry and barren. The sun beats down mercilessly in summer and makes the rock so hot it’s impossible to stand still on one spot for more than a few seconds. There are no trees to give shade. It’s bleak, dusty, hot and unpleasant.

Yet, these people built quite an elaborate settlement here. Why? Why would anyone want to live here? Well the answer lies right here. This room was the nerve centre of the Essene community. They came to this inhospitable region to live in seclusion and spent their lives copying out the Bible.

This room is the Scriptorium – or writing room. Originally it was a two-storied building that housed a library and a writing area. Here the Essenes worked, carefully copying out the Scriptures, commentaries and other works.

Their whole lives revolved around this work. They had copies of the Hebrew Scriptures, or the Old Testament part of the Bible, and they spent their time carefully copying it out.

Archaeologists made an amazing discovery here. In this very room where the copying of the Scriptures was done, they found the desks, inkwells, and quills the Essenes used. More inkwells were found here than at any other site from this period. The inkwells still had dried ink in them.

And here’s what’s truly amazing. When they analysed the ink in these inkwells and compared it to the ink on some of the Dead Sea Scrolls, they were found to be identical. They also found pottery jars that are identical to those found in the caves which contained the scrolls.

PTC Gary at Qumran Scriptorium. 29/10/18. Take last. Broll footage of Roman soldiers.
But in June of AD 68 death came to Qumran and all writing here ended forever. That was the time of the First Jewish Revolt against Rome. On their way to attack Jerusalem, the Roman Legions destroyed the Essene settlement at Qumran.

Those residents that did escape, just had enough time to hide the sacred scrolls they could not carry in these cliffside caves before they fled the Romans. They hoped that, when the Romans had gone, the scrolls could be rescued. However, they didn’t live to return. Some of the scrolls were lost in landslides or through dampness.

But many survived and lay undisturbed in the desert caves for almost 2000 years, to become the greatest manuscript discovery in history.

As the experts pieced together and deciphered the scrolls, they discovered some interesting things. For example, the Copper Scroll was an inventory of 61 hoards of
treasure – gold, silver, incense and the like. This treasure, according to the scrolls, had been hidden in a number of secret places near the Dead Sea and Jerusalem.

It hasn’t been found yet, so if you’d like to join the treasure hunt you can. There’s nearly 200 tonnes of treasure, worth over a billion dollars, buried 5 to 6 meters under the ground somewhere near here. It’s believed to be treasure from the Temple at Jerusalem that was hidden away for safekeeping.

But what interested scholars most was the true treasure. You see, the majority of the scrolls were Biblical manuscripts, copies of books of the Bible, the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Old Testament. In fact, all the books of the Old Testament were discovered at Qumran with the exception of Esther.

Now, the question naturally arises, ‘Why are the Dead Sea Scrolls considered such great treasure? Why are they so important? And what vital message do they have for us today?’

Well, the question is often asked, ‘How can we know that our Bible today is accurate, just as the prophets originally wrote it? How can we know that it speaks the same message that it did thousands of years ago when the prophets wrote it? How can we know that it wasn’t changed, or that mistakes didn’t creep in down through the centuries?

Well, this is where the Dead Sea Scrolls fit in, and this is what makes them so important to us today. Before the discovery of these scrolls in 1947, the oldest manuscripts of the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures, that anybody had, came from the 9th Century AD – 900 years after the time of Christ.

Nothing even approaching an original was available to us. The best we could expect was only a copy of a copy – no one knows how many copies. And there was always the recurring question: What may have happened to the accuracy of the text through all the centuries of copying?

But as scholars examined and deciphered the Dead Sea Scrolls, they confirmed that they were written before or at the time of Christ. So, the Dead Sea Scrolls are one thousand years older than any complete Biblical manuscript in existence.

It’s the age of these scrolls that makes them so valuable. In one stroke we are brought one thousand years nearer to the original writings of the Bible prophets. And when these ancient scrolls were compared with the words of our Bible today, they were found to be virtually identical.
Professor Burrows of Yale University who worked on the scrolls said, “There is nothing which can be called a major addition or omission.” (Biblical Archaeologist, X1, No. 10, pg. 60,61)

Do you see what this means? It means that we can know that our Bible today is virtually the same as when it came from the hands of the prophets. You can trust the Bible. The Dead Sea Scrolls allow us to be certain that our Bible has been miraculously preserved down through the ages.

And more importantly, in this age of modern scientific discovery it challenges us to seriously consider the Bible and its claims. The Bible claims to be special and unique. It claims to be God’s Word. It claims to contain vital information for us today.

The story of the Dead Sea Scrolls and their amazing discovery has captivated and inspired people all over the world. These ancient scrolls demonstrate that the Bible has been miraculously preserved down through the centuries.  

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If you’ve enjoyed today’s journey to ancient Qumran, and our reflections on the Dead Sea Scrolls and their message for us today, then be sure to join us again next week when we will share another of life’s journeys together. Until then, why not make a decision to seriously consider the Bible and its claims? Why not make a decision to check it out, to give it a try, right now as we pray?

CLOSING PRAYER

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for Your Word, the Bible. We are so grateful that you have miraculously preserved it down through the centuries. We thank you for the message of the Bible, a message centered around Jesus and the peace and happiness that He provides. We want to experience that peace and happiness in our lives. Please grant it to us. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.