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

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

The first '''Dead Sea Scrolls''' to be found, were discovered by Bedouin shepards in 1947 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 known to exist found 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.

'''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 sections of [[The Bible]].

 

The first scrolls were discovered by Bedouin shepherds in 1947 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.

''Scholars have pointed to similarities between beliefs and practices outlined in the Qumran literature and those of early Christians.'' <ref> [http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/scrolls/juda.html JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY AND THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS] Library of Congress Exhibitions.  </ref> The Biblical Scrolls' contents focus the books from the [[Old Testament]]. The Scrolls are written in [[Hebrew]] and in [[Aramaic|Aramaica]] with a few texts in Greek. The use of Hebrew was a surprise to many scholars who felt that Hebrew had become a dead language by that time, and this discovery gave new evidence to a claim that the Gospels of [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] and [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] were originally written in Hebrew and then quickly translated into Greek.<ref>http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2001/may2001p20_453.html</ref>

''Scholars have pointed to similarities between beliefs and practices outlined in the Qumran literature and those of early Christians.'' <ref> [http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/scrolls/juda.html JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY AND THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS] Library of Congress Exhibitions.  </ref> The Biblical Scrolls' contents focus the books from the [[Old Testament]]. The Scrolls are written in [[Hebrew]] and in [[Aramaic|Aramaica]] with a few texts in Greek. The use of Hebrew was a surprise to many scholars who felt that Hebrew had become a dead language by that time, and this discovery gave new evidence to a claim that the Gospels of [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] and [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] were originally written in Hebrew and then quickly translated into Greek.<ref>http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2001/may2001p20_453.html</ref>