Dead Sea scrolls
Syllabification: (Dead Sea scrolls)
Definition of Dead Sea scrolls
- a collection of Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts discovered in pottery storage jars in caves near Qumran between 1947 and 1956. Thought to have been hidden by the Essenes or a similar Jewish sect shortly before the revolt against Roman rule ad 66-70, the scrolls include texts of many books of the Bible; they are some 1,000 years older than previously known versions.