The Dead Sea Scrolls (introduction)

← all texts · Hebrew · c. 3rd c. BCE – 1st c. CE

What this is

The library of an apocalyptic Jewish sect at Qumran, found 1947 — the oldest biblical manuscripts by a thousand years, plus the sect's own rule-books, hymns and the War Scroll. They reset the textual history of the Bible.

Highlighted names link to their entry in the encyclopedia.

Read & download

We don't host the text — these go to the source library.

Browse at Archive.org →

The gods & things in it

Yahweh 🎨

Companion reading path

What to read alongside it, and why.

The Septuagint (LXX) — Greek Old Testament Christian

The Scrolls test where the LXX and the Hebrew text diverge.

The Apocrypha / Deuterocanon Christian

Much Second-Temple literature in the Apocrypha turns up at Qumran.

The Holy Bible — King James Version (complete) Christian

The scriptures the Scrolls give us our oldest copies of.