New Scrolls from the Judean Desert

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Recent explorations in the Judean desert south of Jerusalem have revealed scores of new scroll fragments hidden away in secluded caves. The parchment fragments, which are dated by radiocarbon to the second century C.E., feature Greek translations of the Books of Zechariah and Nahum, both of which are included among the Twelve Minor Prophets of the Hebrew Bible. They are the first scrolls discovered in the Judean desert through official excavation in more than 60 years. The scroll fragments, along with coins and arrowheads dating to the time of the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–136 C.E.), were recovered from the […]

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Footnotes

1. See Baruch Safrai, “Recollections from 40 Years Ago: More Scrolls Lie Buried,” BAR, January/February 1993.

2.
This article references some sites and artifacts excavated in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 1967. The First Protocol of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, to which both the State of Israel and the Palestinian National Authority are States Parties, obligates the respective state parties to mutual cooperation and support regarding the protection of cultural heritage within an occupied area.