Dead Sea Scrolls
Dead Sea Scrolls. Collection of manuscripts found in caves near the Dead Sea. The scrolls, discovered between 1947 and 1956, date mainly between c.150 BCE and 68 CE. They seem to have belonged to a succession of communities based at Qumran, the last of which was destroyed by the Romans in the first Jewish revolt. They include manuscripts which seem to relate to a community or communities based in Qumran: the Manual of Discipline, the Damascus Document, the Thanksgiving Psalms, and the War Scroll.
The identification of those who produced the sectarian documents has been much disputed. Scholarly consensus favours a group closely related to the Essenes. However, it is at least equally likely that Qumran, because of its remoteness, was a haven of refuge for conservative groups in more than one period, who disapproved of (or were persecuted by) those who were running the Temple in Jerusalem.
The identification of those who produced the sectarian documents has been much disputed. Scholarly consensus favours a group closely related to the Essenes. However, it is at least equally likely that Qumran, because of its remoteness, was a haven of refuge for conservative groups in more than one period, who disapproved of (or were persecuted by) those who were running the Temple in Jerusalem.
More From encyclopedia.com
NEARBY TERMS
Dead Sea Scrolls