The first scrolls were found in late 1946 or early 1947 in what was to become known as Cave 1.
As word got out about these scrolls and what they may contain the search for their source began in earnest.
In 1949 a group of British and Jordanian troops on patrol in the area came across the cave discovered by the Bedouins. The cave was examined and excavated by G. Lankester Harding director of the Jordanian Antiquities Department and Roland de Vaux of the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem.
They found some seventy fragments of scrolls some of which appeared to have fallen from the edges of the scrolls discovered by the Bedouins.
By 1956 a total of eleven caves had been discovered although most of these discoveries were made by the Bedouins (and not by archaeologists) due to their thorough knowledge of the area.
As a consequence of the finds made by the Bedouins the archaeologists were required to purchase those scroll found by the Bedouin in order to add them to their collection.
By the end of the excavations some 825 - 870 scrolls had been found made up of tens of thousands of fragments. However in only 10 cases has more than 50% of the original scroll survived and only 1 scroll is regarded to be complete.
Which cave contained what?
The first seven scrolls discovered by the Bedouins in Cave 1 turned out to be the best preserved of all the scrolls discovered at Qumran. The first three scrolls are now known to be the Book of Isaiah, the Thanksgiving Hymns and the Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness or War Scroll. The other four scrolls were a further copy of the Book of Isaiah, the Rule of the Community, the Pesher Habbakuk and the Genesis Apocryphon.
Cave 2 was discovered in 1952 by the archaeological team and held the remains of about forty scrolls.
Cave 3 was also discovered in 1952 by archaeologists. It was thought to have been originally been used as a dwelling. This cave appeared to have been opened some time in the centuries past and contained the remains of thirty-five broken jars and a handful of very small fragments of about twenty-four scrolls.
However Cave 3 also contained two corroded rolled pieces of copper. This became know as the Copper Scroll (although it took several years before a way of opening the scroll without damaging it further was found). Once opened the Copper Scroll revealed a listing of over sixty sites where considerable amounts of treasure had been hidden.
Cave 4 was one of the most important caves and was discovered by the Bedouin (not archaeologists) who had removed many of the fragments before being stopped. Once the fragments were sorted it appears that they represented about 566 of the total number of scrolls.
This cave also appeared to have been a dwelling of some sort and the scrolls had not been stored in jars. The large number of scrolls and fragments found were going to create additional problems of their own (an area we will touch on later).
Cave 5 was discovered in 1952 by the archaeological team during their investigations of the Qumran site. This cave contained about thirty badly decomposed scrolls which appeared to have been thrust in the cave minus the protection of jars. The scrolls removed from this cave mostly contained books from the Bible including; Deuteronomy, Isaiah and the Psalms.
Cave 6 was discovered by the Bedouin who again removed many of the fragments. Eventually about thirty-five unprotected scrolls were removed which included further books from the Bible, apocryphal works and hymns. (NB. 'Apocryphal works refers to 'hidden truths' often concerning the future fate of the world, revealed to holy men either through visions or ascensions to the heavens'.) (Hodge, Glossary, p.225)
Caves 7,8 and 9 were discovered in 1955. Although they now appeared as only small recesses probably due to the erosion of the surrounding rocks.
The most interesting find occurred in Cave 7 where fragments of scrolls were found to have been written in Greek and not Hebrew or Aramaic as with previous finds.
The number of fragments found in these three caves was almost minute compared to the finds in the other caves which has lead to the believe that the scrolls stored here had been removed quite a while ago although ink imprints left on the jars in which they were stored seemed to indicate that they had been in the caves for sometime before being removed.
Caves 10 and 11 were the last to be found. Cave 10 does not appear to have been a storage area for scrolls as no fragments were found although it did show signs of having been a dwelling.
Cave 11 was discovered by the Bedouin in 1956. However as the value of the Dead Sea Scrolls was now widely known it appears that most of the scrolls in this cave had been removed by the Bedouin and either lost or sold to private collectors. Twenty severely damaged scroll fragments were eventually recovered.
Long after the last caves were discovered Kando (Khalil Eskander Shahin) who had bought the first scrolls from the Bedouin let it be known that he had a 'substantial scroll' in his possession. Kando was approached a number of time with offers to sell the scroll but would pull out of any deals at the last minute.
Finally during the Israeli occupation of Bethlehem in the course of the 1967 Six Day War, Kando's shop was raided by Yigael Yadin an archaeologist (son of Eleazar Sukenik) in the name of the Israeli authorities. Remains of what was to become known as the Temple Scroll was found rotting in a shoe box below the floorboards.
It was accepted that this scroll was probably removed from Cave 11 although it is unknown if Kando had access to or knew of any other scrolls which may also have been removed.
Reference List
Books
Hodge, Stephen 2001, The Dead Sea Scrolls, Piatkus, London p. 225
Websites
Dead Sea Scrolls - A Compelling Find, 2002 - 2010, All About Archaeology, viewed 25 April 2010.
http://www.allaboutarchaeology.org/dead-sea-scrolls.htm
The Dead Sea Scrolls and Why They Matter / Introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls, 2010, Biblical Archaeology Review, viewed 25 April 2010.
http://www.bib-arch.org/online-exclusives/dead-sea-scrolls-02.asp
Picture
Schweizer, Effi, 2007, Qumran in the West Bank, Middle East. In this cave the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, Wikipedia, viewed 25 April 2010.
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