Qumran is a series of caves found around the archaeological site of Qumran in the Judaean Desert of the West Bank. It is in a number of these caves that the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. In early 1947, a Bedouin boy found a cave after searching for a lost animal. Our guide told us the boy threw a stone into a cave and it made an unusual sound. He went into the cave and he found the scrolls in pottery jars from two thousand years ago. The location of the cave was not revealed for another 18 months.
We were told the person who found the scrolls took them to a shoemaker as he was going to have them made into shoes. The shoemaker heard about antiquities in the area and showed them to a person who knew about antiquities. This man purchased the scrolls and jars. Fear of the destruction of archaeological evidence with the discovery of caves by the Bedouin led to a campaign by the French and American Schools to explore all other caves to find any remaining scrolls. The scrolls were taken to an American University where they were researched. This man became the first person approved to sell antiquities in Israel. During our trip we were surprised to be taken to a jewelry and antiquity store now owned by the grandson of the man who originally purchased the jars and dead sea scrolls.
We were told the person who found the scrolls took them to a shoemaker as he was going to have them made into shoes. The shoemaker heard about antiquities in the area and showed them to a person who knew about antiquities. This man purchased the scrolls and jars. Fear of the destruction of archaeological evidence with the discovery of caves by the Bedouin led to a campaign by the French and American Schools to explore all other caves to find any remaining scrolls. The scrolls were taken to an American University where they were researched. This man became the first person approved to sell antiquities in Israel. During our trip we were surprised to be taken to a jewelry and antiquity store now owned by the grandson of the man who originally purchased the jars and dead sea scrolls.