Examining the Dead Sea Scrolls | Expedition Unknown

[Music] my quest to unlock the mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls brings me to the Holy Land where the first chapter in the history of the scrolls was written the old city of Jerusalem it may sound like a cliche but there really is no place like it choose any descriptor you like evocative maddening overwhelming divine you don’t walk these streets you’re carried through them to step off the curb here is to be swept up in the turbulent waters of history [Music] it’s been a crossroads of civilizations as long as there have been roads to cross it was the center of trade routes stretching from Rome to India and home to diverse cultures living side-by-side sometimes in harmony and sometimes in conflict but more than anything else Jerusalem is about faith home to three of the holiest places on earth the golden dome of the rock sacred to

Muslims the Church of the Holy Sepulchre the site of the crucifixion of Christ and the oldest of them all the Western or Wailing Wall all that remains of a 3,000 year old Jewish temple to understand what was once here we have to turn back the hands of time the so-called Temple Mount begins as a natural rise known as Mount Moriah where ancient Hebrews believed creation itself began over time a Jewish Empire grows around it the Great Temple of Solomon is built on the sacred mount in 586 BCE it’s destroyed by invaders the rebuilt structure is known as the second temple the center of Jewish faith and home to Jerusalem’s greatest treasures including an archive of sacred scrolls and manuscripts centuries later the Romans conquer the city in the year 67 the Jews of Jerusalem spark a rebellious in retaliation the Roman army destroys the second temple now all that

remains is the western wall of the temple platform the story of the Dead Sea Scrolls begins when Jerusalem looked like this [Music] I’m at the Israel Museum scale model of the holy city to meet scroll expert and curator dr. Adolfo Reutemann alright let’s talk about this incredible model here I feel like Godzilla this is awesome this is the Jerusalem of first century CE II in time of the Romans so we are kind of in the period of the Dead Sea Scrolls here exactly the world discovered in a place called Qumran located on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea about 30 miles from Jerusalem okay the first dates were discovered by the end of 1946 on the beginning of 1947 amazingly they were discovered completely by accident as the story goes a young shepherd is hurting goats in Qumran near the Dead Sea passing a cave

he throws a stone to scare a wayward animal back to the flock and here’s something shatter curious he enters the cavern and discovers 10 clay jars holding seven ancient scrolls they had no idea they discovered maybe the most significant archaeological treasure of the 20th century they decided why not to sell the scrolls and four scrolls were bought by a dealer from Bethlehem an Arab Christian and the other three a Hebrew University professor bought the other three scrolls for the Hebrew University so in on both sides of Jerusalem a Jew and a Christians they had scrolls okay this is the beginning of a joke but instead of walking into a bar the Christian antiquities dealer resells his Scrolls to the archbishop of the Syrian Orthodox Church facing political turmoil in Jerusalem the archbishop smuggles the scrolls into the United States in 1954 he takes out a

classified ad in The Wall Street Journal offering the scrolls to the highest bidder Israeli scholars race to acquire them sensing their huge historic and religious value underscores were bought for the State of Israel for a quarter of million dollars in 55 the sale sets off a flurry of digging and looting along the edge of the Dead Sea that eventually yields the remains of more than 900 manuscripts discovered in 11 different caves now we have around 20,000 fragments of manuscripts unbelievable we’d like to see them I would love to see them come with me doctor Reutemann invites me into the hallowed halls of the so called shrine of the book where the world’s greatest collection of Scrolls is carefully preserved we pass through a series of chambers inspired by the caves where the scrolls were discovered and at the end of the tunnel a revelation this place

what a room it feels like you’re in a temple a shrine here in this venerated vault I’m surrounded by a treasure trove the remains of some of the best preserved Dead Sea Scrolls are on display amazing pend mainly in Hebrew on parchment or papyrus the first question is what’s written on them let’s start with the Mona Lisa of all the spoils the Book of Isaiah unbelievable written about 2,000 years ago this scroll is the oldest known copy of a major portion of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible and so this is just a piece of it how long is the full scroll more than 20 feet long these monastry pass all the 66 chapters of The Book of Isaiah laghima were more than Bibles before this was found what was the oldest known copy of the Book of Isaiah from Middle Ages thousand years after

this management this ancient copy of Isaiah is a big deal to biblical scholars since it confirms that this part of the Old Testament has remained consistent for thousands of years but not all of the Dead Sea Scrolls are copies of the Bible as we know it we have apocryphal stories new stories that we didn’t know before the discovery of the scrolls digital document is called the worst form these describes the war by the end of history between the son of lies and the son of darkness that’s very Game of Thrones but this doesn’t appear in the Old Testament no it’s outside to come scholars believe that the war scroll is more than just the description of the apocalypse it was a tactical manual outlining weaponry and maneuvers to help good triumphs over evil and it’s not the only scroll with stories that can’t be found anywhere

else in Scripture we have a new version of the book of Genesis Abraham is presented as an exorcist expelling demons amazing in this reimagining of Genesis Abraham doesn’t just speak with God he possesses divine powers this is a new presentation of Abraham very new the thing that is so mind-blowing is that the ink looks like it was written yesterday yes but most of the scrolls they don’t look like this some of them are in very good shape some other very fragmentary materials the work at the lab is crucial in order to preserve them to learn what other secrets are hidden on the scrolls dr. reutemann helps arrange exclusive access to the only laboratory in the world that actually handles the original manuscripts very nice to meet you for 70 years the Leon levy laboratory of the Israeli Antiquities Authority has been doing the miraculous work of making these ancient

parchments readable again thank you for having me here this is incredible pnina reveals one of the crown jewels of their restoration work allowing me to see a scroll as its author did without the barrier of museum glass this is the big Hospital forum cave 11 now don’t breathe [Music] not a problem because getting this close to an original scroll literally takes my breath away it’s mind blowing is there an older copy of the Book of Psalms than what we’re looking at right here No how crazy is that now we’ll show you the scroll that drives the world crazy of all the copies of the book of Deuteronomy that we have this is the only copy that preserves all of the Ten Commandments wait a minute this is our oldest source for the complete ten commandments yes and is the text complementary with with later versions are there any changes

there’s a slight difference [Music]