Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Dead Sea scrolls

By Dana Evron

The Dead Sea is located 395 meters below sea level and it is the lowest point on earth. The sea is famous for its high salt concentration that makes it easy for people to float.

Many tourists that hear about the Dead Sea wonder what it is all about. The Dead Sea is extremely deep, it is about 1000 feet.

The Dead Sea scrolls are about 900 documents. The Dead Sea scrolls were first discovered in the year 1947 in a cave on the northeast side of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea scrolls are a significant piece of history and they are written in several languages like Hebrew, Aramaic, and even Greek.

There are several museums that display parts of the Dead Sea scrolls like the Jewish museum in New York City, and the royal Ontario museum of Toronto. The Dead Sea scrolls can be divided into two categories: biblical and non biblical. The scrolls are also the oldest group of Old Testament manuscripts that were ever found.

The scrolls contain never heard stories about biblical figures like Enoch, Abraham, and Noah. They were mainly made from animals skin and written from right to left. Since the scrolls are mainly written in Hebrew they have greatly enhanced our knowledge about that language.

Many believe that the Dead Sea scrolls are a link between Christianity and Judaism. The discovering of the Dead Sea scrolls has truly revolutionized our understanding on how the bible was translated.

When the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered sometime in the year 1947 they created some controversies. Books have been written on them and also on their meaning.

Jewish history contains a long list of documents that are important to the Jewish tradition. Among those documents are the Dead Sea Scrolls that were discovered somewhere between 1947 and 1956. - 16651

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