What the Dead
Sea was Hiding
In spite of it's name, the Dead Sea was hiding a rich and alive treasure: 800 rolls of Apocryphal Gospels, known today as Qumram's Papyruses or the Rolls of the Dead Sea, and considered also as one of the most important archaeological finds of the XXth century in the validation and review of the Biblical texts of the Old Testament. They are recognized as one of the discoveries of papyrus more important of the history, when contained the most ancient and complete collection of Hebrew texts that has been, by what they are considered to be the major manuscript trasure .
This
discovery, as same of Nag Hammadi, revolutionized to the archaeological world,
and gave beginning to a gigantic task of translation and investigation that
still does not end. Experts of the American School of Oriental Investigation
were the first ones in examining the manuscripts and realize his antiquity.
John Trever photographed them in detail, and the great archeologist William F.
Albright was the one who gave the voice to which the rolls were dating back of
between 200 years B.C. and 200 years A.C. In that time when there were done
the first announcements of which the most ancient disclosed texts had never
been found in Juda's desert. 
In fact, one of the big trasures of this discovery is, which is said, is the version of the most ancient Bible that is known: a roll of parchment of 2.500 years of antiquity - thousand years before that any other copy of the Biblical Hebrew texts - and that contains a few texts of the prophet Isaiah corresponded with ink on brown skin and that refer to big predictions for the humanity (attached article sees The Armageddon according to the Bible at the end of the article).
The trasure of the Dead Sea was discovered in 1947 in secret jars of clay in 11 caves located to a kilometre, approximately, in a place named Chirbet Qumram, in the northwestern bank of the Dead Sea, and that from middle of last century is known as The Place in Ruins, for being a desert and inhospitable zone, few kilometres to the south of the mythical city of Jericho.
The first rolls of Qumram's Papyruses were discovered by three Bedouin shepherds - two of them called Jalil Musa and Jum'a Mohamed ed Dhib - of the tribe of the Ta'amire, when was trying to catch the goats that were escaping from the steep cliffs on the coast north-east of the Dead Sea. Accidental, they discovered two small openings in one of the miles of caves in those rocks and, after investigating a bit, got hold of seven rolls close to the pitchers that were containing the parchments and that were in this cave. These first manuscripts were extracted this day and the following one of the caves.
Written
thousands of years before that the most ancient Hebrew text of the Bible (that
dates about
100 years before Jesus' birth), were written in Hebrew, Aramaic
and Greek, and they were containing copies of parts of the canonical books of
the Old Testament, besides psalms, commentaries and other writings, some in
key. The tracks on his origin intend to an epoch previous and later to the
beginning of the Christian age, when some Jewish sects began to guard Hebrew
manuscripts of the Old Testament and another religious literature written on
skin of sheep in some caves close to the Dead Sea.
But
7 original parchments were only the principle. More than 600 texts and
thousands of fragments were found then in 11 caves of Qumran's area,
containing fragments of all the Biblical books - except the one of Esther, as
well as many other not Biblical texts.
One of the most fascinating finds was a parchment of copper, which had to be cut in strips to be able to be opened, and that was containing a list of 60 trasures located in several parts of Judea (none of which found till now). Another writing, called The Parchment of the Temple, describes with luxury of details an elaborated temple for rituals where was taking part the Jewish community.
Another trasure of invaluable importance are the numerous Biblical manuscripts that have been discovered. Up to Qumran's discoveries, the most ancient manuscripts of Hebrew writings were copies of the centuries 9 and 10 B.C., of a Jewish group of scribes called the Masoretes. The same thing with regard to 24 Biblical manuscripts of the Cave 4 correspondents to the books of Deuteronomy, Josué, Judges and Kings, approximately thousand years more ancient than the Hebrew manuscripts known up to the present.
How all the disclosed parchments passed from the hands of a few young Bedouin shepherds up to the eyes escudriñosos from international academicians it is a history separate, where the threads seem to be moved by invisible hands, specially because the texts were scattering and separating some of others in the way, to return to meet finally almost for art of magic in the Hebrew University, where they came each one for separated routes.
After
hanging of a post of a Bedouin shop, seven original parchments were sold
separately to two Arabic
antiquarians in Bethlehem. Of there, four were sold
to the archbishop Athanasius Jesche Samuel, of the Church Orthodox Syria of
San Marco's monastery, in Jerusalem. Three of the texts were sold to E. L.
Sukenik, archeologist of the Hebrew University and father of Yigal Yadin
(general of the Israeli army, who later would turn into a famous archeologist
and excavator of Farmhouse and Hazor). The war Egyptian - Israelite of
1947-1949 did that the rolls were falling down in the oblivion, but after
having crossed the United States with his four parchments and after interested
buyer had not found, Metropolitan Samuel published an advertisement in the
Wall Street Journal. Yigal Yadin was in New York, and he read the message in
the diary; across intermediaries, he bought the manuscript invaluables for a
quantity near to the $ 250.000 dollars. In February, 1955, the Prime minister
of Israel announced that Israel's State had bought the parchments, and the
seven (including the bought ones previously for the teacher Sukenik) would
remain in a special museum of the Hebrew University called Sanctuary of the
Book, where they can be seen today. Nowadays, Isaiah's rolls have been
protected by a special reliquary in the shape of amphora of clay inside the
Museum of Jerusalem. The managers of the museum pulverize with water the
reliquary every day, in order that the trasure preserves it's temperature and
appropriate dampness, as if was in it's cave of the Dead Sea. Besides,
nowadays, there are restored the supports of leather of the manuscripts due to
the fact that the enormous environmental salinity of the zone was spoiling
them.
The existence of the manuscripts was the point of item for frantic searches in the area of the original discovery. The archeologists initiated his excavations, which in a principle removed to end under P.R.'s direction of Vaux, the director of the Biblical School and Archaeological French of Jerusalem, and G.L. Harding, the director of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. In this first stage, more of 600 proceeding fragments were situated of more than 70 manuscripts, fragments of terracotta and other materials.
An
archaeological official expedition began in 1949, which discovered 10
additional caves that also were containing parchments. Then, the archeologists
turned aside his attention to a nearby ruin called "Khirbet de Qumran" (Khirbet
means ruin), considered remains of an old Roman fortress. The second stage was
given between the year 1951 and 1965, coming near to the conclusion of which
an accession, in principle stable and called Community of the Qumran, had
established itself in that zone for several centuries. In the cave 4, on the
other hand, discovered more than 15.000 fragments belonging to 550
manuscripts, of which 100 of them are reproductions of the Old Testament
without Apocrypha, except Esther's book.
After stages of intense excavation, the academicians did not have any doubt that the manuscripts had origin in this community, which bloomed between 125 B.C. and 68 A.C., composed by a group of Jews. Ruins like warehouses, aqueducts, ritual baths, a lounge of assemblies and an escritorium identified by two inkstands and some bankings for them write, they support these facts.
After
the archaeological work, the scientist began, with the processes of
investigation, evaluation and
publication of the works during the 50s and 60s,
until in the decade of 1970 the process stagnated. This mistake of activity
gave place to an endless number of hypothesis and provoked the birth of a
fantastic literature on the secrets of the Rolls of the Dead Sea, which was
revealing mysteries that the ecclesiastic authorities were interested in
concealing. In the 80s one wanted to erase this image of the manuscripts and
realize the definitive publication of the same ones, for which increased the
number of specialists who could have access to they.
Seven original manuscripts of the Dead Sea, of what has been called Cave 1, include the following :
1)
One copy well preserved of Isaiah complete prophecy, considered the oldest
copy of a book
of the Old Testament never discover
2) Another Isaiah fragment.
3) A commentary of first two Habacuc's chapters, which explains the book allegoric, in terms of the brotherhood Qumran.
4) The " Manual of the Discipline " or " Norm of the Community ", the most important source of information brings over of the religious sect in Qumran, which describes the requirements for those that want to enter to the brotherhood.
5) The " Anthems of Action of Graces ", a collection of "psalms" devotional of gratefulnesses and praises to God.
6) The book of Genesis paraphrased in Aramaic.
7) The " Norm of War ", report that treats of the struggle of the " childrens of the light" and "the children of the glooms" to happen in the " last days ".
After 50 years of re-composing the Dead Sea scrolls, the scholars have had to give step to the scientists to extract more information of these archaeological relics. In fact, a few years ago the experts were summoned for a conference in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, supported by the Center Orion for the Study of the Dead Sea scrolls, where they tried to solve some of the mysteries that last on them.
The great difficulty of the work of the investigators is the enormous quantity of opposing parchments - more than 850-of which 300 are so damaged and by installments. To this there adds the complexity of the calligraphy, which lacks vowels and that the words are in the habit of being all together so that, how as separates, it is possible to give them a sense or other one, which has done that the philologists are delayed in delivering his translations.
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Creele a Dios Ministries 2007