Modern Timeline for Qumran, Israel and Jordan
1946-47Dead Sea Scrolls rediscovered, in what became known as
Qumran Cave 1 (1Q), on the western shore of
the Dead Sea in Transjordan by a Bedouin of the Tacâmireh
tribe named Mohammed ed-Dhib. There is general disagreement among all the
parties as to what happened when. Late 1946 throught the early Spring of 1947,
seems certain. Three manuscripts may have been removed in the first instance.
1947, AprilBedouin offer manuscripts to Ibrahim 'Ijha, an
antiquities dealer in Bethlehem. He does not buy them. Scrolls taken to Kando
(aka Khalil Iskander Shahin).
1947, May/JuneBedouin secure more scrolls from Cave 1.
1947, July 5(?)Four scrolls taken to Syrian Orthodox Monastery
of St. Mark in Jerusalem by Kando, George Isaiah (aka Faidi Salahi), and several
Bedouin. They approach the Archimandrite of Saint Mark, Athanasius Yeshua Samuel,
attempting to sell him the scrolls. The meeting does not immediately take place.
In fact, when they show up for their meeting no one seems to know anything about
their appointment and they are turned away at the gate. They return with their scrolls
to Kando's shop.
Kando managed to sell (or leaves) this first batch of scrolls to Faidi Salahi who
eventually sold some scrolls to Sukenek. Three of the scrolls are reportedly sold by
the discouraged Bedouin partners to a Muslim sheik of Bethlehem. (This may be two
versions of the same story, or there may have been more recovered scrolls than anyone
has ever acknowledged. Or some scrolls were counted more than once because they
were in pieces by the time they were recovered and moved to Jerusalem.)
1947, July 19(?)Kando purchases additional scrolls from
George Isaiah and the Bedouin, which he subsequently sells to the Mar Athanasius
for £24 (24 Palestinian pounds).
1947, AugustMar Athanasius sends a priest with
George Isaiah to the known cave at Qumran. This pair worked at night and
found an additional jar and some fragments. They also do more excavating.
No other finds from this mission have been reported. Rumors that
unreported scrolls were found at that time remain unconfirmed.
1947, AugustThe American CIA representative to Damascus,
Miles Copeland, was approached by an Egyptian merchant with an ancient
looking and disintegrating scroll. Copeland agreed to photograph it and
see if he could find someone to identify it. The scroll was unrolled on
the roof of the American legation and photographed in a wind that peeled
off large chucks of the scroll which were lost forever. Thirty frames
were taken, which was not enough to cover the entire scroll. One
unidentified American Embassy official in Beirut who saw the photographs
is said to have identified it as part of the Old Testament book of
Daniel. Part was in Aramaic and part in Hebrew. The merchant never
returned to claim his scroll, the photographs have been lost along with
the scroll. Fragments of the Daniel scroll were eventually found at
Qumran five years after the reported incident.
1947, SeptemberMar Athanasius Yeshua Samuel and Anton Kiraz
take all the scrolls in their possession to the Afram Barsoum, Patriarch of the
Syrian Jacobite Church, in Homs, North of Damascus, Syria. Their discussions
were never reported. Mar Athanasius Yeshua Samuel returns with the scrolls and
a second expedition is dispatched to Qumran.
1947, October 1-3Metropolitan Samuel and Kiraz agree to
become partners to the scrolls in return for Kiraz's financial assistance.
1947, November 29Professor Eleazer Sukenik, Department of
Archaeology, Hebrew University made a trip to Bethlehem with an unidentified
Armenian antique dealer to inspect scrolls available for sale there; presumably
these are the ones that were not sold to the Mar Athanasius Yeshua Samuel by
Kando or the Bedouin or both.
1947, DecemberProf. Sukenik agrees to purchase several
scrolls. Sukenik first learns of the existence of the scrolls held by Mar
Athanasius Yeshua Samuel at about this same time. His son, Yigael Yadin,
will be fated to play an important future role in modern scroll history as a
result of this discovery and Sukenik's determination to eventually buy the scrolls.
1948, JanuaryBy this time Prof. Sukenik had been contacted
by Mar Athanasius Yeshua Samuel and agreed to a clandestine meeting to view
the scrolls in his possession. He was allowed to borrow the scrolls for
evaluation purposes, but had to return them on February 6, unable to raise
sufficient funds for their purchase. It could also be that having contacted the
American School of Oriental Research, Samuel was eager to get a bidding
competition going between Sukenik and the American School. To do that
he had to get the scrolls back from Sukenik and into the hands of the
American School officials who could evaluate their scientific merit.
What could, possibly, have been purchased for a few thousand dollars at this
point in time, eventually, cost a reported $250,000 when finally acquired for
Israel by Sukenik's son, Yigael Yadin, in 1954.
1948, FebruaryScrolls were brought to the American School
of Oriental Research. Their antiquity was recognized by John C. Trever, who
with William Brownlee began the first studies and systematically photographed
them. They sent prints to W. F. Albright. Professor Millar Burrows, Director
of the American School, returned from Iraq and also confirmed the importance
and antiquity of the scrolls over the next month or so.
1948, March 15Professor William F. Fullbright of Johns
Hopkins University, having reviewed photographs of Mar Athanasius' scrolls
confirms their authenticity and ascribes a preferred date
to them of around 100 BC. Professor Albright had been contacted by the
Albright institute (the American School of Oriental Research) in February
and a complete set of prints had been sent by the Institute to him at that
time.
1948, March 18The first press release is drawn up and the
scrolls in the possession of Mar Athanasius are placed in a bank
vault in Beirut.
1948, SpringArab-Israeli fighting began to disturb all of
Palestine making trips to remote sites difficult and dangerous.
1948, April 11The first press release appears in the
April 12, 1948 edition of The Times, issued by
Professor Millar Burrows, Head of the Department of Near Eastern
Languages, Yale University, and Director of the Albright Institute. The
discovery was ascribed to a library of the Syrian Monastery of St Mark in
Jerusalem, the home of Mar Athanasius Yeshua Samuel.
1948, April 26Professor Sukenik announces the existence
of the Hebrew University collection. He had been studying the scrolls since
at least November 1947, when he was first shown some fragments in a Jerusalem
antiquities shop. Sukenik no doubt delayed announcing his acquisitions in
order to avoid driving up the price on future purchases. Once the American
School let the news out, there was no point in hidding the Hebrew University
holdings.
1948, May 14The Jewish People's Council declares its
own independent state of Israel, one day before the British Mandate is
scheduled to expire. This completely severes all communications between
scholars working on opposite sides of the border, or even opposites sides
of Jerusalem. For decades, American scholars trying to work both in both
East Jerusalem (Jordanian control) and West Jerusalem (Istaeli control) had
to have two passports because they could not enter Jordon on a passport that
contained an Israeli entrance stamp.
1948, NovemberBecause the war disrupted communications
so thoroughly, Mr. G. Lankester Harding, Director of the Department of Antiquities
of Jordon, finally learns of the scroll discoveries at this late date when he finally
receives the April 1948 issue of the Bulletin of the ASOR in Amman. Hence, the
belated attempts to prevent further pillage by the desert tribes were delayed by
over half a year.
1949
Jan 29 - Metropolitan arrives in US with 4 scrolls.
1949, JanuaryMar Athanasius Yeshua Samuel removes his
scrolls from the bank in Beirut and moves (smuggles) them to New York (arriving
on January 29) where they are placed in another bank vault.
1949, January 7The "final" cease fire takes effect between
Israel and the Arab states of the Middle East whereby central Palestine,
including Qumran, will remain Arab. This territory is occupied and then
annexed to Transjordan, which henceforward calls itself simply Jordan.
Jordan also retains control of East Jerusalem.
1949, January 28The first Jordanian expedition sponsored by
Gerald Lankester Harding, initiated by Captain Philippe Lippens, and lead by
Captain (later Colonel) Akkash el-Zebn reaches the cave at Qumran and
discovers linen in which scrolls had been wrapped and numerous pieces of
pottery. Whitish debris cascading down a ravine in the cliffside revealed the
location of the cave, about 1 kilometer north of Wâdi Qumrân, low
on the cliffs and about 1 mile from the shoreline.
1949, February 15 - March 5Father Roland de Vaux and
Harding make their first joint visit to the cave at Qumran. They discover the
fragments and remains of many, perhaps 30, identifiable texts as well as many
more that are not identifiable, plus enough shards for forty storage jars. This
excavation confirms the provenience of the scrolls already acquired. Searches
for additional caves was apparently not considered. Nothing much happens
for about two years.
1951, OctoberBedouins from the Tacâmireh
tribe discovered scroll fragments at a new site.
1951, November Because de Vaux and Harding were both
working at Qumran at the time, the Bedouin first took their new scrolls to Joseph
Saad, Director of the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem. When they refused to
take him to the site he kidnapped one of them until he agreed to cooperate. This
lead to the discovery of four caves in the Wâdi Murabbacat,
it turns out are located about 12 miles southwest of Qumran and about 12 miles
southeast of Bethleham.
On the other hand a different version of this story has de Vaux outsmarting
the Bedouin by getting them to brag about how difficult their task of recovery
has been and then, accidently as it were, inviting him to come see for
himself if he was so skeptical. The Bedouin then lead him to the sight so that
he can see for himself and the Bedouin are out of a job.
The first set of these new scrolls was eventually presented for sale at the
École Biblique at the end of November. At that point it became obvious
that Cave 1 was not a one off fluke in the desert. Since he was already out in
the desert, it is not too fanciful to believe that de Vaux conducted his own
negotiations with the Bedouin on the spot and obtained their cooperation in
locating the new site.
1951, November and Decemberde Vaux made the first
soundings at the site of Khirbet Qumran south of Cave 1. They cleared five
rooms within the largest of the buildings, uncovered an aqueduct and a system
of pools and cisterns. At the time the outer wall was described as consisting
of "...large, undressed stones" and the perceived rough-hewn look was taken,
initially, to be consistent with architecture appropriate of a communal, desert
dwelling group of sectarians.
1952Five new caves are discovered at Qumran this year,
including the famous Cave 4, containing thousands of fragments from hundreds
of manuscripts. The contents of all five caves were moved to the École
Biblique in East Jerusalem for storage and study.
1952-1956de Vaux, Harding, and Reed begin their excavations
in and around Qumran shortly after Saad's discovery of the caves farther
south in Wâdi Murabbacat. They conduct seasonal digs
for three more years.
This is the work that led them to
conclude that Qumran was the site of the Essene community spoken of by
Pliny in his History, which deals with the topography and certain
events which took place in Judaea prior to his death in 79 CE. Pliny
reports that the Essenes lived north of Masada. He says that lying below
the Essenes was formerly the town of En Gedi. This could mean south of the
Essenes or literally below them as down hill from the Essenes. Qumran is a
long way from En Gedi today. Both Ain Feshkha and Ain el Ghuweir lie
between Qumran and En Gedi today and the hills above En Gedi may yet hold
other sites worth exploring.
1952, January 21 - March 3The first scientific excavations
were conducted at Wâdi Murabbacat. Excavations and
important discoveries continued in these caves until at least early 1955.
1952, early to mid-FebruaryHaving been forced away from their
new finds at Wâdi Murabbacat, the Bedouin returned to
Qumran to reinvestigate the caves there while all the scientists were occupied
elsewhere. They found a new cave, Cave 2, just a few hundred yards south
of Cave 1 at Qumran. This brought de Vaux et al scampering back from
Wâdi Murabbacat just to keep up with the frantic pace of
new discoveries. It must have been both frustrating and exhilerating.
1952, late February and MarchA systematic search of all
the caves in the vicinity of Qumran is conducted with the assistance of the
Tacâmireh tribesmen. More than 200 caves are investigated.
In twenty-five caves the pottery recovered matched that found at
Khirbet Qumran and in Cave 1. Pottery of other types is never mentioned,
though the way this is worded invites questions about non-matching pottery
from, at least some of, the other caves.
1952, March 14Cave 3 is discovered during the search. The
orginal doorway of this cave had collapsed in antiquity and it takes nearly a week
of digging before the Copper Scrolls are discovered. [The first announcement
about this discovery was not made until June 1, 1956.]
The two halves of a rolled copper scroll, the "Copper Scroll", turned out to be
an inventory of (fabulous, fantastic, imaginary, etc.) treasures, possibly taken
from the Temple in Jerusalem and hidden prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
1952, SeptemberThe official team left at the end of March, as
a result of the heat, Malaria, simple fatigue and dwindling funds. With the aid of
the Bedouin it
managed to investigate most of the natural caves of the limestone cliffs. They
had ignored the man-made caves in the marl terrace at the foot of the cliffs,
however, imagining, we can only suppose, that they were too insecure for the
ancients to have used for storing their valuable scrolls; or some such drivel.
1952, SummerContinuing on after the close of the official
expedition, the Bedouin discovered
inside the cave known as Cave 4, within 200 yards of the actual ruins of Qumran
itself, the largest cache of scrolls. How these were missed on the first attempt
is not clear. Eventually, tens of thousands of fragments making up more than
575 separate manuscripts were recovered. This mass of material was all moved
to the Rockefeller Museum; to a room subsequently known as the 'Scrollery' where
it resides to this day. The work of organizing the fragments took until about
1959, but the delays since then have been the subject of some contention.
1952, Sepetmber 22-29Controlled excavation by de Vaux
replaced the digging by the Bedouin before the contents of Cave 4 were
exhausted. The Bedouin got the lions share, for which they were eventually
paid by the government of Jordan. Nevertheless, de Vaux and his crew were
able to recover fragments belonging to over 100 manuscripts. These were
again important in establishing the provenience of the fragments eventually
purchased from the Bedouin over the next five years. The pausity of sherds
indicates that the vast majority of these scrolls were not stored in jars when
last abandoned in this cave.
Cave 6 were discovered by the Bedouin in conjunction with their efforts this
summer. It is located near the waterfall of Wâdi Qumrân.
Cave 5 was discovered by de Vaux in conjuction with his teams
excavation of Cave 4. Cave 5 is located immediately north of Cave 4.
1954, June 1The following ad appeared in the Wall Street Journal
THE FOUR DEAD SEA SCROLLS
Biblical Manuscripts dating back to at least
200 BC are for sale. This would be an ideal
gift to an educational or religious institution
by an individual or group. Box F 206
1954, July 2The four scrolls stored in a bank vault in
New York and under the control of Mar Athanasius Yeshua Samuel were
purchased with donated funds ($250,000) by an agent of Y. Yadin and
transferred to Israel in July, 1954. Avraham Harman took the scrolls
from the States to Israel by boat. These four scrolls along with the
three scrolls originally purchased by Sukenik, Y. Yadin's father, are now
held in the Shrine of the Book.
1955, springDuring the fourth campaign at Qumran, four
additional productive caves were located and excavated; Cave 7, Cave 8,
Cave 9 and Cave 10. Like Cave 5 and Cave 6, there were found in the marl
terrace adjacent to Khirbet Qumran. All four had collapsed in ancient times
as a result of erosion along the ravines. Only a handful of fragments were
discovered, perhaps only enough to show that manuscripts, in who knows
what quantity, were stored in these caves, too, at the time they were last
abandoned. [One has to wonder if fragments might not still be resting in the
anaerobic mud offshore; washed by winter torrents into the Dead Sea.]
1956, JanuaryDate of the most recent find by the relentless
waves of Bedouin excavators - Cave 11, located not far from Cave 3 and
more than a mile north of Khirbet Qumran. Because of the manuscripts
recovered from this cave, Cave 11 rivals Cave 1 and Cave 4 in importance.
, running on WARP with WIN-OS/2. 
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