“The secrets of the Dead Sea does not belong to the past, but to the eternity that sleeps under the salt.” — Yigael Yadin, israeli archaeologist and scholar of Qumran.
In 1947, a young bedouin threw a stone into a cave and heard a sound that would change the history: the echo of a pitcher broken that contained the most ancient manuscripts of the biblical world. Since then, the Dead Sea scrolls they have become one of the findings most enigmatic of the TWENTIETH century, surrounded by secrets, controversies and revelations about the origin of judaism and christianity.
Below, we present to you ten little known facts that reveal the hidden side of this spiritual treasure and archaeological.
1. They were discovered by accident by a teen bedouin
The discovery was the work of chance. In 1947, Mohammed edh-Dhib, a bedouin shepherd of the tribe Ta amireh, I was looking for a lost goat when he found the first vessel in a cave at Qumran. I did not know that it contained texts for more than two thousand years old.
2. Not all rolls are religious
Although many of the manuscripts belong to biblical texts (such as Isaiah, Psalms, or Deuteronomy), others include the rules of the community, manual of discipline, calendars, secrets and even treatises on astronomy, medicine, and spiritual warfare. Some even contain lists encrypted and references to hidden codes.
3. The enigmatic “Roll of Copper” describes a hidden treasure
Among the findings most unusual figure a coil made of copper, not of parchment. It's detailed 64 places where he allegedly hid massive amounts of gold, silver, and sacred objects from the Temple in Jerusalem before its destruction. Until today, no one has found the treasure.
4. Some texts are written in an unknown language
Although the majority of the scrolls are in Hebrew, aramaic, or Greek, some fragments used a language not yet identified completely. Linguists refer to this as “Hebrew sectarian” or “Hebrew of the Qumran”, with expressions that do not appear in any other biblical text known.
5. Contain versions older than the Bible today
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a thousand years older than the biblical manuscripts used until the TWENTIETH century. This allowed to verify that the biblical text was transmitted with an astonishing fidelity, though with some variations, which reveal how they evolved certain doctrines and divine names.
6. Reveal a secret community: the essenes
Most researchers attribute rolls on essenes, a jewish community that lived in the Judean desert, dedicated to ritual purity and to study mystical. Your way of life austere, their rejection of the official priesthood and its apocalyptic writings remember the origins of early christianity.
7. There were decades of censorship and cover-up
For years, access to the scrolls was restricted to a small group of academics catholics and europeans. The Church and the State of Israel controlled carefully to the publication of certain texts, especially those who could question the traditional interpretation of the Scriptures. It was not until the 1990s that have been released full images for public review.
8. Some fragments referred to a “Teacher of Righteousness”
Several texts refer to a mysterious spiritual leader called “Teacher of Righteousness”, pursued by a “Priest Wicked.” Some researchers link it with figures messianic or with the origins of the movement of John the Baptist. His identity remains one of the greatest enigmas of Qumran.
9. The rolls are still “alive” thanks to science
The researchers have used DNA techniques, analysis of fibers and infrared spectra to identify the origin of the scrolls. It has been discovered that some were written on the skins of animals in the north of Israel, suggesting a network of production and transfer much more extensive than previously believed.
10. A message that transcends time
Beyond the religious content, the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed a world in transition, a time of spiritual crisis and policy where the men were waiting for the end of the world and the beginning of a new era of justice. In that mirror of the desert, the modern humanity can be recognized by looking for the same answers: who we are, where we come from and what meaning it has for the destination.
The echo of the desert
In the caves of Qumran is not only found texts, but a testimony of faith and rebellion. The rolls are the voice of a community that wanted to preserve the truth to power. Each fragment is a whisper that travels from the I century a.C. until today, reminding us that the written word can survive even the oblivion of time.
