The Dead Sea Scrolls: Part 1

Welcome to the Veritas Numquam Perit website. In case you are wondering what this phrase means, it is in Latin, and it says, "Truth never dies." In the case of Christianity, it never does. God, our Heavenly Father, is the Truth, and He has always existed and always will. So that makes my blog title true. Hey, what do you think that picture is of? That's why I'm here today. It's a scroll. One of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Never heard of them you say? Should I tell you a bit about them? OK. Even if you just said no, I'm going to anyway. You can't stop me. I'm the writer, you're not, get the picture? I'm just kidding around, by the way.

Anyway, these scrolls were written 2,000 years ago in Israel, in a small village named Qumran (Kwum-run). This village was located near the Dead Sea. Click below for a map. http://www.bible-history.com/geography/ancient-israel/israel-first-century.html Scroll down and you will find it near the upper left of the Dead Sea.

Qumran's geography meant that it was in a very low spot in the ground. The Dead Sea is the earth's lowest point. More facts about it include that it is very salty, poisonous, and it smells like the Dickens. Actual salt crystals form on the beaches of the Dead Sea. The air is very dry, which is one big reason the scrolls survived this long. Getting back to Qumran, it was a village of mostly men, a sect called the Essenes. Although some of these men may have been married, women were almost completely exempt from the area, as it was a monkish society. Thus, you can tell the obvious, these guys copied Scripture. Isolation was key for concentration, and also for separation from the Pharisees, as neither group got along well with each other. To some extent, Essenes believed in similar laws referring to ritual purity like the Pharisees, but other things, such as the yearly calendar, were very hot topics. The Essenes came up with the solar calendat of 364 days, but the Pharisees liked the moon orbit calendar, of 354 days.

As far as ritual purity, each Essene monk had his own dishes, drinking cups, and silverware, although I can assure you it was not silver. These dishes were made out of fired clay, and were revolting things to eat off of. And the baths were all separated, with several man-made areas that were irrigated with river water. Clothes were made from linen, as plant based items were considered purer than animal based items, such as wool. These Essenes wove their own clothes as well. Most of these men spent their whole lives as isolated monks copying and studying Scriptures among themselves.

Now that I have given you the basic idea of the culture of Qumran, you are ready to read about the scrolls themselves, and how they were found again. Read on next time, at the Veritatem Dies Aperit blog where the Truth never dies.