THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS

WHAT ARE THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS?

The Dead Sea scrolls are modern Judaism most prized positions. There are more than 30,000 fragments that together make more than 1,000 scrolls. They were written by the Qumran (the creators of the scroll on deck 7) 1,000's of years ago. They now reside in the hands of a select Jewish scholar and is part of display in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

HOW THE SCROLLS WERE FOUND

The scrolls were initially found by accident by a man named Muhammad edh-Dhib. He was doing his job and he stumbled on a bunch of clay jars in a cave. He took a handful of scrolls but no one in his village could figure out what to do with it. Eventually, they were given to scholars who realized their importance.

WHAT WAS FOUND IN THE CAVES OF THE SCROLLS

• Cave 1 - Book of Isaiah and a lot of pottery shards
• Cave 2 - Nothing
• Cave 3 - Copper scroll
• Cave 4 - 15,000 pieces of scrolls.
• Cave 5 to 10 - Nothing
• Cave 11 - Temple scroll: A scroll with a description of the building

HOW MUCH PERCENT WAS FOUND IN EACH CAVE

• Cave 1 - Had the book of Isaiah
• Cave 2 - Had nothing.
• Cave 3 - Had a copper Scroll.
• Cave 4 - Had 15,000 fragments of the scrolls. Cave 4 yielded 40% of the scrolls
• Cave 5 - Cave 10 had nothing
• Cave 11 - Had a Temple Scroll: A scroll with a description of the building.

THE QUMRAN PEOPLE (THE CREATORS OF THE SCROLLS)

The Qumran people had a hard time making the scrolls. They wrote the scroll backward, with no spaces, and in a different language. They wrote it this way so only people of their kind could read it. They believed someone could find their scroll and defeat their enemies who called themselves "The Sons of Darkness." The Qumran people believed in Christianity and Judaism.

FUN FACTS

• 4 of the scrolls went up for sale in 1954 on The Wall Street Journal.
• The man that found the scrolls was a goat herder.
• The copper scroll reads a treasure hunt.
• The scrolls are made of papyrus, animal skin, and parchment.

CREDITS

• Produced by: Smily Face Incorporated
• Sponsored for: Mrs. Nolan's 5th grade class
• Made by: Siddharth and Bronwyn