From 1947, the recovery of fragments of Biblical texts in the region of the Dead Sea became one of the most celebrated archaeological discoveries of modern times.
Accidentally found by Arab shepherd boys, the first scraps proved to be part of a trove of over 1,000 manuscripts hidden by Jews from the Romans during the first century. A recent paper has announced new light being revealed from these ancient texts.
Perfect preservatives
It is hard to overemphasise how significant the Dead Sea Scrolls would become for Biblical studies. Prior to their emergence, the earliest complete Hebrew manuscript was what we call the Masoretic Text dating to around the tenth century.
