This website displays info on the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls are named for the collection scrolls found near the Dead Sea in Israel in 1940s. The 972 texts match those from the Hebrew Bible, such as the entire book of Deuteronomy.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are of great mystical and historical significance, as they include the oldest known surviving copies and extra-biblical documents and preserve evidence of great diversity in late Second Temple Judaism. They are similar to the Bible, as they are written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, mostly on parchment, but with some written on papyrus. These ancient manuscripts generally date between 150 BCE and 70 CE. The scrolls are traditionally identified with the ancient Jewish sect called the Essenes, though some recent interpretations have challenged this association and argue that the scrolls were penned by priests in Jerusalem, Zadokites, or other unknown Jewish groups.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are traditionally divided into three groups: “Biblical” manuscripts (copies of texts from the Hebrew Bible), which comprise roughly 40% of the identified scrolls; “Apocryphal” or “Pseudepigraphical” manuscripts (known documents from the Second Temple Period like Enoch, Jubilees, Tobit, Sirach, non-canonical psalms, etc., that were not ultimately canonized in the Hebrew Bible), which comprise roughly 30% of the identified scrolls; and “Sectarian” manuscripts (previously unknown documents that speak to the rules and beliefs of a particular group or groups within greater Judaism) like the Community Rule, War Scroll, Pesher on Habakkuk (Hebrew pesher פשר = “Commentary”), and the Rule of the Blessing, which comprise roughly 30% of the identified scrolls.
Dead Sea Scrolls are traditionally divided into three groups: “biblical” manuscripts (copies of texts from the Hebrew Bible), which constitute about 40% of the scrolls identified, “apocryphal” or “Pseudepigraphical” manuscripts (known documents from Second Temple Period as Enoch, anniversaries, Tobit, Siracha, non-canonical psalms, etc., that did not ultimately canonized in the Hebrew Bible), which constitute about 30% of the scrolls identified, and “sectarian”, manuscripts (previously unknown documents that speak to the rules and beliefs of a particular group or groups within Judaism large) as the Community Rule, War Scroll, the Habakkuk Pesher (פשר Hebrew pesher = “Commentary”), and the rule of grace, which constitute about 30% identify scrolls.
Thanks a project Google took on involving scanning and digitizing all of the Dead Sea Scrolls, you can now view it online and study them up close right now.
Dead Sea Scrolls Writing