Pottery Artifacts: Sundial from Qumran

A sundial found at Qumran thought to have been used to determine the cosmic calendar for the celebration of the Jewish feasts.

Qumran Settlement - Recreation

Qumran

A recreation of the Settlement at Qumran.
The Scriptorium at Qumran where inkwells, reed pen (made from a palm) and a long plastered table were found.

Dead Sea Scrolls: Community Rule Scroll

  Credit: The Israel Museum, Jerusalum  The Community Rule Scroll is a sort of manual for life, from governing who joins the community to laying down rules about how to behave at communal meals.  The Community Rule which was previously referred to as the Manual of Discipline and in Hebrew Serekh ha-Yahad is one of the first scrolls to be discovered near khirbet (ruin of) Qumran, the scrolls found in the eleven caves between 1947 and 1954 are now referred to simply as the Dead Sea Scrolls. 

Newly Discovered Qumran Photographs from the 1950's

 
Bedouin man is posing in pool 

(P. Pennarts, 31 December 1953) 

A Bedouin man is posing in pool, and note channel on right. This picture has been taken a few seconds after Leo Boer took the previous photo. This pool shows evidence of earthquake damage; de Vaux believed that the earthquake was that of 31 BCE, meaning that it was not used in Periods II and III.

This photo belongs to The Palestine Exploration Fund

Newly Discovered Qumran Photographs from the 1950's

(L. Boer, 31 December 1953) 

The photograph has been taken from the north-west corner (standing on the wall), as can be concluded from the number on the rock in the wall in front, looking south towards the doorway, with the north-east corner on the far right.

 The photo also takes in the pool at the back. The photo most clearly relates to Periods II and III. At the right side Peter Pennarts (standing on a high wall on the south) is taking a picture of a Bedouin man  who has descended a few steps in the pool. Together with Dutch journalist Jan Glissenaar, Pennarts travelled seventeen months across the Middle East in a jeep (visible at the left of the ruins). The day this picture was taken they were shown around by Leo Boer.


This photo belongs to The Palestine Exploration Fund

THE DANIEL B DEAD SEA SCROLL

MS in Aramaic on vellum, Qumran, ca. 4 BC-68 AD, 4 fragments sticking together, each 1,8x1,9 cm, of which 3 are inscribed, part of 3+1+2 lines in a Herodian Hebrew book script. The uninscribed fragment, 0,7x2,4 cm, and further a linen cloth 2,2x4,2 cm adhering. 

Context: Part of the Dead Sea Scroll, of which 2 larger fragments (11,3x9,6 cm 14 lines and 5,8x6,4 cm 7 lines), and ca. 9 tiny fragments (mostly uninscribed) survives, with the text of Daniel. Fragment 2 from the present MS matches the largest fragment. They were found in Cave 1 in a lump of vellum consisting of 9 layers also containing 1QDana and 1QPrayers.

Commentary: Daniel 3:26 - 27 is not present on any other Dead Sea Scroll, so this MS is the earliest witness to the text, actually written in the lifetime of Christ and the Apostles.
Originally written 167-164 BC, Hebrew is the original language of Daniel 1:1 - 2:4, Aramaic of 2:4 - 12:13. The present MS is in the original language as well, and copied only about 200 years after the book of Daniel was written.

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THE LEVITICUS DEAD SEA SCROLL

MS in Hebrew on light brown leather, Qumran, 30 BC-68 AD, part of a scroll, 9,0x21,2 cm, column I: (5,0x7,2 cm), 9 lines; column II: (5,0x6,5 cm), 8 lines, in a good Herodian Hebrew book script, upper edge preserved 3,8 cm, intercolumn spaces 2,2 - 2,3 - 2,3 cm, blindruled with 4 verticals and 9 horizontals.

Commentary: This is a unique, new scroll, not belonging to any other Leviticus scrolls. Leviticus 26:3 - 9 is the earliest witness to this part of the Hebrew Bible, only preceded by the Septuagint 4QLXXLeva (DJD IX:119), dated to 1st c. BC. Leviticus 26:33 is the 2nd oldest witness to the text, only preceded by 4QLev-Numa (DJD XII:23), dated to middle or 2nd half of 2nd c. BC (Early Hasmonaean). Leviticus 26:34 - 37 is the earliest witness to the text.

More About the Schoyen Collection

THE JOSHUA DEAD SEA SCROLL

There are only 2 other fragmentary Dead Sea Scrolls of Joshua in Jerusalem: Rockefeller Museum, with parts of the chapters 2, 3, 6-8, 10 and 17, making the present MS the earliest witness to this part of the Bible. With MS 2861 the oldest biblical MS in private ownership. 

MS in Hebrew on brown leather, Qumran, late 1st c. BC - early 1st AD, beginning of a scroll, 9,7x17,0 cm remaining, column 1: (5,7x8 cm), 9 lines, column 2: 3 lines, in a fine small Herodian Hebrew book script, + an uninscribed fragment 1,8x1,3 cm.

Context: The original scroll was appr. 5,25 m long, ca. 16,5 cm high, with ca. 55 columns, each ca. 11x8 cm with 16 lines and 1,5 cm between columns, lower edge 4 cm and upper edge ca. 1,5 cm.

 

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The only surviving stylus or pen from Qumran.

QUMRAN STYLUS WITH NATURAL INK GROOVE 

Stylus of palm leaf with natural ink groove, with dried ink remaining on the tip. 

Context:  The Temple Scroll, with the 12 fragments, the scroll's linen wrapper, and a palm leaf pen, were found together in a large jar with lid (still in Kando's shop in Jerusalem), in Cave 11 in 1956. The Temple Scroll is now in Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum. 


More About the Schoyen Collection

Bronze inkwell, Khirbet Qumran, before 68 AD

Bronze inkwell, Khirbet Qumran, before 68 AD, with 2 basket type handles turning opposite direction on the concave top, round corpus, h. 8 cm, diam. 8 cm, with pedestal base, decoration of parallel incised lines around rim and around ink hole. Green patina.

Context: Found 1950 on the Khirbet Qumran site prior to the official excavations, together with a bronze miniature incense altar with 4 protruding horns at the corners, other inkwells in bronze and clay were found during the excavations at Khirbet Qumran in 1951, 1953 and 1966-67. There exist only 2 more inkwells of the elaborate type of the present item.

More About the Schoyen Collection

Writing From the Isaiah Scroll

 

A few lines (in Hebrew square writing) from one of the two scrolls of Isaiah found in the cave of the scrolls of Qumram, north-west of the Dead Sea.

Israel Museum(IDAM), Jerusalem, Israel

Copy of the Copper Scroll Found in Cave IV in Qumran

Copy of the copper scroll found in Cave IV in Qumran. This is the only Qumran text engraved on metal.The text in Aramaic tells about a hidden treasure of silver and gold weighing about 120-160 tons and lists over 60 hiding places,most of them in Jerusalem and Jericho.

Archaeological Museum, Amman, Jordan,kingdom

Qumran: Inside the settlement:

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The location of the major points of interest are pointed out on a small scale version of the plan of the settlement. The order is mostly clockwise, starting from the north - where the entrance is located. 

Site #4: 

Tower A small square tower is located on the north side of the settlement, near the entrance from the visitors center. The diagram on the right shows the location of the tower as a red square. A view of the tower from the west side is shown in the picture below. Behind the tower is the north side of the Dead sea. Beyond the great salt lake is the mountains of Jordan

The Qumran archaeological site.

Qumran: Plan of the settlement

The plan of the reconstructed Qumran is shown in the following diagram, showing the design of the rooms and structures (in grey and black), and the water supply system (in blue). The major points of interest are numbered and their description appears on the legend at the right.

 

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Qumran: Wooden Artifacts

Wooden artifacts are rare finds in the material culture of the ancient Near East, and few specimens from the Roman period have survived. Because of unusually arid climatic conditions at Qumran, however, many wooden objects were retrieved including bowls, boxes, mirror frames, and combs. Their fine state of preservation facilitates the study of ancient woodworking techniques.

Similar to most ancient combs, these combs are two-sided. One side has closely-spaced teeth for straightening the hair, and the other side provides even more teeth for delousing the scalp. Both combs are fashioned from boxwood.

This deep bowl has a flat base, expertly turned on a lathe. Several concentric circles are incised in its base, and the rim of the bowl is rounded. Most wooden objects found in the Qumran area are of "acacia tortilis," a tree prevalent in the southern wadis "valleys" of Israel.

QUMRAN PHYLACTERY CASES

Phylactery A case is constructed of two pieces of stitched leather. It contains four chambers and each compartment can hold a minute slip containing a prayer. Meant to be worn on the arm, phylactery case B has only one compartment. It is formed of a single piece of leather folded in two, with one half deeply stamped out to contain a tiny inscribed slip. A fine leather thong was inserted at the middle, and the halves were folded over and stitched together.

LAYOUT OF PHYLACTERY CASES IN COMPUTER IMAGE

               C         D         B

                    A         E

Reference
    Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, I, p.7. Oxford, 1955.

Photo Gallery: Qumran - Bedouin showing buried jar

(P. Pennarts, 31 December 1953) The same Bedouin is showing Leo Boer (left) and Jan Glissenaar (right) the mouth of a jar buried in the rubble. Exact location is unknown.

This photo belongs to The Palestine Exploration Fund

Leather Scroll Fasteners Found at Qumran

Tabs and thongs like these may have been used to bind and secure individual scrolls. The fastening method is thought to consist of a slotted tab folded over the edge of the scroll (see "Prayer for King Jonathan" scroll fragment) with a thong inserted through the tab's slot. The thong then could be tied around the scroll. Fasteners were generally made of leather and were prepared in different sizes. The leather thongs may have also been used in the making of phylacteries.

Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (90-100)

Reference:

Carswell, J. "Fastenings on the Qumran Manuscripts." In Qumran Grotte 4:II. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, VI, pp. 23- 28 and plates. Oxford, 1977. 

Linen Textiles Found in Qumran Cave

The textiles shown here are two out of scores of pieces collected together with scrolls and other objects from the floor of the Qumran Cave 1 in the spring of 1949. The textiles were examined at the H. M. Norfolk Flax Establishment in England, and the material was identified as linen. A total of seventy-seven pieces, plain and decorated, were cataloged and described by the renowned textile expert Grace M. Crowfoot.

It is possible that all of the cloths found at Qumran are linked with the scrolls. Some of them were certainly scroll wrappers; the remains of one scroll was found wrapped in a small square of linen. Other cloths, found folded into pads, may have formed a packing for worn-out scrolls inside the scroll jars. Still other pieces--with corners twisted or bound with linen cord--may have been used as protective covers, tied over the jar tops.

The wrapped scrolls may have been concealed in the cave at a time of national panic or simply buried, as was a common practice, when they wore out. The condition of the cloths would coincide with either suggestion.

This cloth is cut along three sides, rolled and oversewn with a single thread; the fourth edge has a corded starting border in twining technique, followed by a woven strip and an open unwoven space. It was found folded into a pad and was probably used as packing material for discarded scrolls.

The edges of this cloth are cut, rolled, and whipped on two opposite sides with single thread. On the other two sides, a double thread was used. Two corners are twisted, and the third has a piece of string knotting it, indicating that it was probably used as a cover for a scroll jar.

Reference:
    Crowfoot, G. M. "The Linen Textiles." In Qumran Cave I. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, I, pp. 18-38. Oxford, 1955.