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'{{short description|Caves in the West Bank}} [[File:Qumran.jpeg|thumb|Cave 4Q with other caves in the background]] '''Qumran Caves''' are a series of caves, both natural and artificial, found around the archaeological site of [[Qumran]] in the [[Judaean Desert]]. It is in these caves that the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] were discovered. [[Israel Nature and Parks Authority]] took over the site following the end of the 1967 war, when [[Israeli occupation of the West Bank|Israel occupied the West Bank]] and seized Qumran. Israel has since invested heavily in the area to establish the Qumran caves as a site of "uniquely Israeli Jewish heritage".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abu-Baker |first1=Aseil |last2=Farah |first2=Marya |title=Established Practice: Palestinian Exclusion at the Dead Sea |journal=Journal of Palestine Studies |date=17 April 2020 |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=48–64 |doi=10.1525/jps.2020.49.2.48|doi-access=free }}</ref> The caves are recognized in Israel as a [[National Heritage Site]], despite the caves being in [[occupied Palestinian territories]]; as such, the designation has drawn criticism.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21973708 Israel heritage plan exposes discord over West Bank history], BBC News, 16 April 2013: "Israel has occupied the area since the 1967 Middle East war, and its designation of sites there as part of its national heritage has drawn criticism."</ref> ==History== The [[limestone]] cliffs above Qumran contain numerous caves that have been used over the millennia: the first traces of occupation are from the [[Chalcolithic]] period then onward to the Arab period.<ref>de Vaux 1973, p. 51.</ref> The artificial caves relate to the period of the settlement at Qumran and were cut into the [[marl]] bluffs of the terrace on which Qumran sits. ==Dead Sea Scrolls== [[File:Dead Sea Scrolls Before Unraveled.jpg|thumb|Scrolls in situ]] In late 1946 or early 1947, a Bedouin boy of the Ta'amireh tribe, Muhammid Ahmed el-Hamed called ''edh-Dhib'' (the wolf), found a cave after searching for a lost animal. He stumbled onto the first cave containing scrolls from two thousand years ago. More Ta'amireh visited the cave and scrolls were taken back to their encampment. They were shown to [[Mar Samuel]] of the Monastery of Saint Mark in April 1947 and the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls was made known.<ref name="Elledge2005">{{cite book|last=Elledge|first=Casey Deryl|title=The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tWIVZldDL0wC&pg=PA3|access-date=13 February 2018|year=2005|publisher=Society of Biblical Lit|isbn=9781589831834|page=3}}</ref> The location of the cave was not revealed for another 18 months, but eventually a joint investigation of the cave site was led by [[Roland de Vaux]] and [[Gerald Lankester Harding]] from 15 February to 5 March 1949.<ref>VanderKam 2002, pp. 9, 12.</ref> The interest in the scrolls with the hope of money from their sale initiated a long area-wide search by the Ta'amireh to find more such scrolls, the first result of which was the discovery of four caves in [[Wadi Murabba'at]] about 15 kilometers south of Qumran in 1951.<ref>Allegro 1956, p. 35.</ref> In the Qumran area another cave was discovered, now referred to as Cave 2Q (1Q was the first scroll-bearing cave), in February 1952. However, only a few fragments were found in the cave.<ref>VanderKam 2002, p. 15.</ref> 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. Although 230 natural caves, crevices and other possible hiding places were examined in an 8-kilometer area along the cliffs near Qumran, only 40 contained any artifacts and one alone, 3Q, produced texts, the most unusual being the [[Copper Scroll]].<ref>Allegro 1956, p. 36.</ref><ref>Patrich 1994, p. 74.</ref> [[File:Qumran pottery.jpg|thumb|150px|Qumran pottery]] 4Q was discovered in September 1952 by the Ta'amireh. De Vaux, on being offered a vast amount of fragments, contacted Harding who drove the Qumran site to find that the Bedouin had discovered caves very near the Qumran ruins. These were Caves 4Q, 5Q, and 6Q, the most important of which was 4Q which originally contained around three-quarters of all the scrolls found in the immediate Qumran area.<ref>Allegro 1956, p. 37.</ref> The first two of these caves had been cut into the marl terrace. The third was at the entrance to the Qumran Gorge just below the aqueduct.<ref>Humbert 2003, p. 67.</ref> In 1955, a survey of the terrace brought to light a staircase leading down to the remains of three more artificial caves, 7Q, 8Q and 9Q at the end of the Qumran esplanade,<ref>VanderKam 2002, p. 18.</ref><ref>Broshi 1999, p. 333.</ref> all of which had collapsed and had been eroded, and a fourth cave, 10Q, on the outcrop which housed caves 4Q and 5Q. The last cave containing scrolls to be found, once again by the Ta'amireh, was Qumran Cave 11 (11Q), discovered in early 1956. Among its contents were the [[Paleo-Hebrew Leviticus scroll]], [[the Great Psalms Scroll]], and the [[Temple Scroll]], though the latter had been spirited away and its recovery was to prove long and complex.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} In February 2017, the discovery of cave 12Q was announced, the contents of which included completely broken storage jars and scroll fragments, but no scrolls themselves.<ref name=":0" /> The cave was investigated by J. Randall Price and students of [[Liberty University]] in [[Virginia]], along with an international team of archaeologists from the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem|Hebrew University]] of [[Jerusalem]] in [[Israel]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/09/archaeologists-discover-new-cave-believed-have-held-dead-sea/|title=Archaeologists discover new cave believed to have held Dead Sea Scrolls, 60 years after last discovery|last=Sanchez|first=Raf|date=2017-02-09|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2019-07-30|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-dead-sea-scroll-cave-found-near-qumran-but-scrolls-are-gone/|title=New Dead Sea Scroll cave found near Qumran, but scrolls are gone|last=Zion|first=Ilan Ben|website=www.timesofisrael.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-30}}</ref> Iron pickaxe heads from the 1950s were also found, which indicate looting had occurred. In addition, archaeologists discovered pottery, [[flint]] blades, arrowheads, and a [[carnelian]] seal that date to the [[Chalcolithic]] and [[Neolithic]] periods.<ref name=":0">{{cite news | url=http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/qumran-cave-12-dead-sea-scrolls-04607.html | title=Qumran Cave 12: New Dead Sea Scrolls Cave Discovered | date=February 9, 2017 | publisher=Sci-News | access-date=February 11, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://biblicalisraeltours.com/2017/02/cave-12-found-at-qumran/|title=A new cave was found at Qumran. It is called "Cave 12."|last=DeLancey|first=Dr John|date=2017-02-09|website=Biblical Israel Tours|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-30}}</ref> ''"This exciting excavation is the closest we’ve come to discovering new Dead Sea scrolls in 60 years. Until now, it was accepted that Dead Sea scrolls were found only in 11 caves at Qumran, but now there is no doubt that this is the 12th cave"'', reported Dr. Oren Gutfeld, the head of the excavations.<ref name=":1" /> According to Israel Hasson, Director-General of the [[Israel Antiquities Authority]] (IAA), the discovery of this cave showed that significant works were waiting to be done in the [[Judaean Desert|Judean Desert]] and some of important ones were waiting to be revealed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livescience.com/57800-new-dead-sea-scrolls-cave-discovered.html|title=12th Dead Sea Scrolls Cave Found in Israel|last=Jarus|first=Owen|date=February 8, 2017|website=Live Science|access-date=2019-07-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jerusalemjournal.net/news-and-views/new-discovery-in-the-judean-caves-of-qumran-home-of-the-dead-sea-scrolls|title=NEw Discovery in the Judean Caves of Qumran, Home of the Dead Sea Scrolls}}</ref> ==Artificial caves== [[File:Caves 4 & 10.jpg|thumb|Caves 4Qa right & 10Q left of upper center, seen from Wadi Qumran to the south]] In all there are ten marl cut caves in the near vicinity of Qumran: 4Qa, 4Qb, 5Q, 7Q, 8Q, 9Q, 10Q, an oval cave west of 5Q, and two caves to the north in a separate ravine.<ref>Broshi 1999, p.334.</ref> Their location necessitates a direct connection with the Qumran settlement. The three caves at the end of the esplanade could only be accessed via the settlement. These caves are thought to have been cut for storage and habitation. [[Marl]] is a soft stone and makes excavation relatively easy, but as seen with Caves 7Q–9Q they have not survived well.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} 4Q, which is now visible from the Qumran esplanade,<ref>Before the cave was found, there was nothing to indicate its presence except for a small hole in the vertical face of the wadi wall. Allegro 1956, p. 37.</ref> is actually two caves, one adjacent to the other. De Vaux referred to them as 4a and 4b. When the Ta'amireh removed all the fragments they could before Harding's arrival, there was no way to tell which scrolls belonged to which cave, so they were later all catalogued simply as from 4Q. In excavating the caves hundreds of fragments were still to be found in 4a while only two or three fragments in 4b. 4a was 8m long and 3.25 m wide with tapering walls reaching 3m in height.<ref>Humbert 2003, p. 96.</ref> ==Archaeological excavations== In 1984–1985 [[Joseph Patrich]] and [[Yigael Yadin]] carried out a systematic survey of over 57 caves north of Qumran and two to the south.<ref>Patrich 1994, p. 75.</ref> In 1985–1991 Patrich excavated five caves, including Caves 3Q and 11Q. One of Patrich's conclusions was that the caves "did not serve as habitations for the members of the Dead Sea Sect, but rather as stores and hiding places".<ref>Patrich 1994, p. 93.</ref> It was discovered that under the rocks in Cave 3Q there were only a few [[Chalcolithic]] sherds, showing that the ceiling had collapsed before any Qumran-era occupation. The cave was uninhabited and used only to store the scrolls left there.<ref>Patrich 1994, p. 77.</ref> In 1988 in the cave Patrich designated as Cave 13, just north of 3Q, a small juglet was found from the [[Herodian dynasty|Herodian]] era, which was wrapped in palm fibres and contained a viscous liquid which Patrich presumed was aromatic balsam residue. In 1991 he discovered several jar stoppers and a complete jar along with [[Date(fruit)|date]] stones and dry dates suggesting occupation, but as the area in front of the cave showed no attempt to convert it into a terrace, he concluded that occupation was not of any length.<ref>Patrich 1994, p. 91.</ref> 11Q was examined and no traces of Qumran era occupation was found.<ref name="Patrich">Patrich 1994, p. 90.</ref> A cave Patrich called Cave 24, which lay between 11Q and 3Q, was large and habitable, but showed no sign of long-term habitation.<ref name="Patrich" /> Cave FQ37 (named in the 1952 survey) located high up on the cliff face 2 kilometers south of Qumran was also an improbable site for permanent dwelling, due to its inaccessibility. In late 1995 and early 1996, [[Magen Broshi]] and [[Hanan Eshel]] carried out further excavations in the caves north of Qumran. They reported other caves not examined by Patrich and believed that they served as dwellings for the inhabitants of Qumran along with other artificial caves that have long ago eroded away from the edge of the marl terrace.<ref>Broshi 1999.</ref> Broshi and Eshel concentrated their interest in the area just north of Qumran, examining two caves they designated as C and F in a small ravine. The former had part of its ceiling caved in and was filled with silt from flash floods, but contained 280 potsherds. Cave F had completely collapsed, but when excavated yielded 110 potsherds. They concluded that the area was residential.<ref>Broshi 1999, p. 330.</ref> [[File:Great Isaiah Scroll.jpg|thumb|center|upright=1.25|Isaiah scroll discovered at Qumran]] ==See also== * [[Shrine of the Book]] * [[Rockefeller Museum]] * [[Antiquities trade]] ==References== {{reflist|2}} ===Bibliography=== * [[John Marco Allegro|Allegro, J. M.]], ''The Dead Sea Scrolls'' (Harmondsworth: Pelican, 1956). * Broshi, Magen, and Eshel, Hanan, "Residential Caves at Qumran." ''Dead Sea Discoveries'' 6 (1999), 328–348. * de Vaux, Roland, ''Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973). English translation from the French. * Stökl Ben Ezra, Daniel, "Old Caves and Young Caves: A Statistical Reevaluation of a Qumran Consensus" ''Dead Sea Discoveries'' 14,3 (2007), 313–333. * [[Jean-Baptiste Humbert|Humbert, J.-B.]] & Chambon, Alain, ''The Excavations of Khirbet Qumran and Ain Feshkha'', Vol. 1B. trans by Stephen J. Pfann, Editions Universitaires Fribourg Suisse (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Goettingen, 2003). * [[Jean-Baptiste Humbert|Humbert, J.-B.]], Alain Chambon, Jolanta Mlynarczyk, Khirbet Qumrân et Aïn Feshkha, Fouilles du P. Roland de Vaux, vol. IIIa, L'archéologie de Qumrân, Reconsidération de l'interprétation; Corpus of the Lamps, Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus, Series Archaeologica 5a, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 2016, 536 p. ({{ISBN|978-3-525-54054-1}}) * Patrich, Joseph, "Khirbet Qumran in the Light of New Archaeological Explorations in the Qumran Caves", in ''Methods of Investigation of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Khirbet Qumran Site: Present Realities and Future Prospects'' (ed. Michael O. Wise, [[Norman Golb]], John J. Collins, and Dennis G. Pardee); Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 722 (New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1994) 73–95. * Patrich, Joseph, "Did Extra-Mural Dwelling Quarters Exist at Qumran?" in ''The Dead Sea Scrolls: Fifty Years After Their Discovery.'' Edited by [[Lawrence H. Schiffman]], [[Emanuel Tov]], James C. VanderKam, and Galen Marquis (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 2000) 720–727. * [[John C. Trever|Trever, J. C.]], The Untold Story of Qumran, (Westwood: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1965). * VanderKam, James & Flint, Peter, ''The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls'' (HarperSanFrancisco, 2002) {{ISBN|0-06-068464-X}} ==External links== {{commonscat|Caves of Qumran}} *[http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il/cave/cave1.shtml The Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature Cave Tour] {{Dead Sea Scrolls}} {{Caves in the State of Palestine}} {{Authority control}} {{coords|31.73|35.46|display=title}} [[Category:Dead Sea Scrolls]] [[Category:Qumran]] [[Category:Archaeological sites in the West Bank]] [[Category:Caves of the State of Palestine]] [[Category:Judaean Desert]]'