The Qumran Library
The scrolls and scroll fragments recovered in the Qumran
environs represent a voluminous body of Jewish documents, a
veritable "library", dating from the third century B.C.E. to 68
C.E. Unquestionably, the "library," which is the greatest
manuscript find of the twentieth century, demonstrates the rich
literary activity of Second Temple Period Jewry and sheds insight
into centuries pivotal to both Judaism and Christianity. The
library contains some books or works in a large number of copies,
yet others are represented only fragmentarily by mere scraps of
parchment. There are tens of thousands of scroll fragments. The
number of different compositions represented is almost one
thousand, and they are written in three different languages:
Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
There is less agreement on the specifics of what the Qumran
library contains. According to many scholars, the chief categories
represented among the Dead Sea Scrolls are:
- Biblical
- Those works contained in the Hebrew Bible. All of the
books of the Bible are represented in the Dead Sea Scroll
collection except Esther.
- Apocryphal or pseudepigraphical
- Those works which are omitted from
various canons of the Bible and included in others.
- Sectarian
- Those scrolls related to a pietistic commune and include
ordinances, biblical commentaries, apocalyptic visions, and
liturgical works.
While the group producing the sectarian scrolls is believed by
many to be the Essenes, there are other scholars who state that
there is too little evidence to support the view that one sect
produced all of the sectarian material. Also, there are scholars
who believe there is a fourth category of scroll materials which is
neither biblical, apocryphal, nor "sectarian." In their view, such
scrolls, which may include "Songs of the the Sabbath Sacrifice", should be designated simply as contemporary Jewish
writing.
Scroll Fragments from the Qumran Library
Library of Congress materials relating to the Qumran Library
