Archaeologists Are Looking for Dead Sea Scrolls Inside 2 Newfound Qumran Caves

[Judi Lynn]

By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | November 30, 2018 08:22am ET

Archaeologists have discovered two caves near Qumran, in the West Bank, that may hold Dead Sea Scrolls.

So far, the archaeologists excavating the caves have yet to find the remains of any biblical-era manuscripts. However, both caves, now called 53b and 53c, are near caves that held the already-discovered Dead Sea Scrolls, and the team is not done investigating the sites.

The Dead Sea Scrolls consist of the remains of 900 manuscripts found in 12 caves located near Qumran. Many scholars believe that a group called the Essenes lived at Qumran and wrote many of the Dead Sea Scrolls before abandoning the site around A.D. 70, when a revolt against the Romans started.

Caves 1 through 11 were discovered between 1946 and 1956; most of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in these 11 caves. The 12th cavewas discovered in 2017 but has divulged just one, blank scroll. Inside the cave, archaeologists also found the remains of items used to store scrolls — jars, textiles, rope and string. This indicates that more scrolls existed in Cave 12 in the past but were looted some time ago. [Gallery of Dead Sea Scrolls: A Glimpse of the Past]

More:
https://www.livescience.com/64200-dead-sea-scrolls-caves-discovered.html