The Dead Sea Scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls, also known as the Qumran Scrolls, are a collection of parchments and papyrus fragments, mainly in Hebrew, but also in Aramaic and Greek, unearthed mainly between 1947 and 1956 near the site of Qumran, then in Mandatory Palestine (1947-1948), and later in the West Bank. 

The discovery of these 970 manuscripts - some of which only tiny fragments remain - copied between the 3rd century BC and the 1st century AD, was made in twelve caves where they had been stored. 

Among the documents discovered are numerous books from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament or New Covenant). Dating back several centuries to the earliest known copies of the Hebrew text, these manuscripts are of considerable interest for the history of the Bible.