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The Dead Sea scrolls were discovered, in 1947, by two shepherds in a cave adjacent to Qumran. In the early excavation of the cave, seven scrolls were
discovered. Later, fragments of 600 different scrolls were discovered in 10 other caves.
The dating of these scrolls is from the Hasmonean period (152-63 B.C.E.) and the Early
Roman period (63 B.C.E.-68 C.E). The scrolls are believed to have been a collection of the Essenes, a radical group of Pharisees who lived in Qumran and other parts of Palestine.
The Dead Sea scrolls contained a variety of texts; however, it is the texts that pertain to the bible that have taken on particular importance. The scrolls represent every
book of the Old Testament, in their entirety, except the book of Ester. This marks an important discovery because prior to the discovery of the scrolls three different variations of
the Hebrew Bible existed.
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