Qumran

The discovery of the ancient settlement of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls (oldest copies of the Bible) was thrilling to Christians and Jews alike. The Scrolls had sat undisturbed deep in the caves of the Judean Desert for millennia. From the scrolls and the more prosaic material artifacts found in the Qumran area, historians were able to patch together a clear picture of the way of life and manner of thought of the residents of Qumran at the the time of the birth of Christianity.