First “Dead Sea Scrolls” discovery
a.k.a. “The Qumran Scrolls”…in “Qumran Cave” (just off the western shore of the Dead Sea in Israel)…roughly 850–900 documents discovered (in 15,000 pieces unfortunately) between 1946–1956…including texts from Tanach (the Hebrew Bible)…
80% on parchment; 20% on papyrus
In 11 proximate caves… the Qumran site covers 78,000 square feet…
The scrolls are from 2000 years ago…approximately the year 0 CE…
Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (which date back to the second century BCE), the oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible were Masoretic texts dating to the ninth century CE, and the oldest extant manuscripts of the so–called Old Testament were in Greek manuscripts such as Codex Vaticanus (c. 325–350 CE) and Codex Sinacticus (c. 300–360 CE).
Over a twenty year period (since 1946), the “scrolls” finally wind–their–way into The Shrine of the Book, a sui generis architectural gem custom–designed to house them at the Israel Museum (on the outskirts of Jerusalem)…
The painstaking assembly work of the 15,000 pieces spans 40 years…you do remember the “40 year” figure, do you not?
It might have taken 400 years, but digital technology turbo–charged the process.
Note: the Qumran Caves, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, are not all that far from Masada (Fortress Masada of 73 CE Zealot lore)… perhaps a 15–20–minute ride eastward from Masada…(by car, that is) with some documents contemporaneous with that very same
(Fall of Masada) era.