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[[Image:Dead Sea Scrolls.jpg|thumb|Dead Sea Scrolls]]

[[Image:Dead Sea Scrolls.jpg|thumb|Dead Sea Scrolls]]

The '''Dead Sea scrolls''' are documents discovered near the [[Dead Sea]] in [[Israel]]. They were an important source of information about the [[Holy Land]] in the first century after [[Jesus Christ]]'s ministry on earth, and make up some of the oldest extant manuscripts of the [[Old Testament]].

The '''Dead Sea scrolls''' include several of the oldest extant manuscripts of the [[Old Testament]], found in a remarkable modern discovery near the [[Dead Sea]] in [[Israel]]. This discovery proved the accuracy of the copying and preservation of [[Scriptures]] over thousands of years, because the ancient contents of these scrolls are virtually identical to the modern content today.  In addition, these scrolls are an important source of information about the [[Holy Land]] in the first century after [[Jesus Christ]]'s ministry on earth,

The first scrolls were discovered in 1947 by a [[Bedouin]] shepherd who uncovered seven scrolls in a [[cave]]. In the following decade, further searches yielded many thousands of scroll fragments, and there are currently over 900 such documents, discovered in eleven different caves.<ref>http://www.sdnhm.org/scrolls/history.html</ref> A nearby habitation, known as [[Qumran]], was also excavated in this time in an effort to identify the people who left the scrolls in the caves.

The first scrolls were discovered in 1947 by a [[Bedouin]] shepherd who uncovered seven scrolls in a [[cave]]. In the following decade, further searches yielded many thousands of scroll fragments, and there are currently over 900 such documents, discovered in eleven different caves.<ref>http://www.sdnhm.org/scrolls/history.html</ref> A nearby habitation, known as [[Qumran]], was also excavated in this time in an effort to identify the people who left the scrolls in the caves.