The Dead Sea Scrolls
or the Qumran Manuscripts are
an important source of historical information regarding the material and
spiritual life in an early Community of Believers during the Biblical times. According
to many scholars, the Scrolls offer illuminating insights on the beliefs and
practices of the historical Essene Community of Jewish people to which, it is
said, the Hadhrat Jesus (as) belonged. The majority of the Scrolls,
preserved at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, are now available online and can
be accessed by all here.
Dating from the third century BCE to the first century CE, the Dead Sea Scrolls
were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in eleven caves on the northwestern shores
of the Dead Sea, Palestine/Israel.
The manuscripts are generally attributed to an isolated Jewish sect, referred to in the scrolls as "the Community," who settled in Qumran in the Judean desert. The Dead Sea Scrolls, which include the oldest known biblical manuscripts in existence, offer critical insight into Jewish society in the Land of Israel during the Second Temple Period, the time of the birth of Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism.
The manuscripts are generally attributed to an isolated Jewish sect, referred to in the scrolls as "the Community," who settled in Qumran in the Judean desert. The Dead Sea Scrolls, which include the oldest known biblical manuscripts in existence, offer critical insight into Jewish society in the Land of Israel during the Second Temple Period, the time of the birth of Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism.