Task 4: Analyse Research Findings.

This blog will attempt to tie all my research findings together. After reading lots of information regarding the Dead Sea Scrolls I have been able to answer my original questions as outlined in my Research Brief. With regards to the discovery of the scrolls there is a large amount of material available which provides similar details as to the discovery and initial treatment of the scrolls.

The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in caves at Qumran in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd and his cousin. Initially they were unaware of the value of the scrolls and they were simply kept at their tent with no thought given to how they were stored.

Finally they took the scrolls to Bethlehem where they sold them to a man named Kondo. he then referred them to an elder at St Mark's Orthodox Church. Meanwhile archaeologist Eleazer Sukenik was also offered two fairly complete scrolls by an Antiques dealer.

In 1949 the a group of British and Jordanian troops came across the caves discovered by the Bedouins, as a result work began on excavating the caves. By 1956 a total of eleven caves had been found and some 825 - 870 scrolls or fragments of scrolls had been found.

Initially attempts to translate the scrolls were slow due to only a select few who were given access to the material. This lead to a major scandal with reports made that the Catholic Church was attempting to hide the contents of the scrolls as they were in conflict with its beliefs.

These reports proved to be unfounded and eventually the material contained within the scrolls was able to be viewed by more and more scholars, although it was to be quite a while before this information was available to the general public.

Another major issue regarding the scrolls revolved around who was actually responsible for writing them. Common opinion is the a group called the Essenes were responsible for the scrolls. They were believed to have distanced themselves from the main religious groups the Sadducees and the Parisees as they believed that their forms of worship were not pious enough.

The Essenes were believed to have lived in and around the Qumran area and are thought to have hidden the scrolls doe to the impending arrival of the invading Romans.

Although the scroll have been proved to have been written by a number of different persons, it is now widely accepted that the Essenes were the major group responsible for their existence.

The material contained within the scrolls has been found to corroborate the writings of the Old Testament, which is the basis for Christianity, Jewish and Muslim religions. As they are much older than the first copies of the Old Testament found their existence serves to help prove that the books of the Old Testament are based on fact.

Whilst there are still complaints today that the Dead Sea Scrolls are still not openly available for research except to scholars who are able to prove their need to use the scrolls, plans to digitise the scrolls should help to alleviate these concerns.

The majority of the scrolls are now kept at the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem and selected scrolls and other artifacts continue to travel the world for public exhibitions. However due to the fact that initially the scrolls were not stored or handled correctly many of them have deteriorated to the point where they are no longer easily read. It is for this reason that the digitisation project will enable the contents of the scrolls to be more accessible without the risk of further deterioration.

There is obviously still a large amount of information with regards to the Dead Sea Scrolls which I didn't tap into during this particular project, particularly with regards to the reaction to the initial translations of the scrolls and the ongoing debate as to the real meaning of the information in the scrolls and whether or not it has had any great impact on the way religion with regards to the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths is viewed today.

I am sure that better scholars then I will continue to debate and review their views on these priceless scrolls and that a better understanding of their long term value will become known to the wider world.

I found that whilst doing this research the web and YouTube provided some quite intersting information and viewpoints on the Dead Sea Scrolls. I found that I didn't use many books (in fact I only used one) as most of the books I was able to find dealt more with the scroll by scroll and line by line translations and comparrisions to the Old Testament rather that information on the backgound of the scrolls.

The one book the I did use, 'The Dead Sea Scrolls' by Stephen Hodge provided lots of background information on the discovery and eventual realisation that the scrolls were indeed quite valuable.

If you get time I suggest you visit the Israel Museum website to look at the Shrine of the Book building and also YouTube where as I said before there are some interesting videos to view.

N.B. All references with regard to my research project appear at the bottom of the post 'Task 4 - Reflection'.