The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts that were found in the Qumran Caves in the Judaean Desert, from 1946/47 and 1956. Scholarly consensus dates these scrolls from the last three centuries BC to the first century CE. The texts include the second-oldest known surviving manuscripts of works later included in the Hebrew Bible canon, along with deutero-canonical and extra-biblical manuscripts. Most of the texts use Hebrew, with some written in Aramaic, and a few in Greek.
Many thousands of written fragments have been discovered in the Dead Sea area. They represent the remnants of larger manuscripts damaged by natural causes or through human interference, with the vast majority holding only small scraps of text. However, a small number of well-preserved, almost intact manuscripts have survived.
Not everything contained in the Dead Sea Scrolls is edifying. What we have included here are some, but not all, of the documents which give light to a greater understanding of God and His Word. More are coming!