New interest was aroused here today in the tattered leather scrolls discovered in 1947 by a shepherd in a cavern in the foothills of the Dead Sea shores, claimed to be the earliest known manuscript of the Book of Issiah.
The London Times today carries an article by the chief curator of antiquities for the Transjordan Government, Lankester Harding, giving details of the discovery and stating that the scrolls, “forming the complete Book of Israiah,” are 22 feet long and are in almost perfect preservation. Of eight scrolls taken from the cavern, four found their way to the American School of Oriental Research.
Reuters today carries a report saying that British archeological experts believe that the fragments of the Old Testament in Hebrew, reportedly more than 2,000 years old, which were discovered in the cavern, are part of ancient records hidden by a lost monastic Jewish sect fighting for its religious and political freedom.
“The scrolls, estimated to have been written in the third or fourth century B.C. and identified as texts of Old Testament books, are thought by experts to have been part of a library hidden by the Essenes, one of the three great religious sects of ancient Israel,” Reuters reported.
British experts say it may be 20 years before the texts and their implications are fully digested in relation to the Bible as it is known today. British authorities believe that the obscure square Hebrew script in which the scrolls are written confirms their age and authenticity.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
