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Dead Sea Scrolls
a number of scrolls dating from about 100 to about 70 discovered at various times since 1947 in caves near the Dead Sea: they contain Jewish Scriptural writings and religious writings of an Essene community
See Dead Sea Scrolls in American Heritage Dictionary 4
plural noun
The papyrus scrolls and scroll fragments discovered between 1947 and 1960 at sites along the Dead Sea, mostly dating from the last two centuries B.C., containing passages from books of the Hebrew Scriptures and from apocryphal biblical books, as well as sectarian writings. They are of great importance for reconstructing the compilation of the Hebrew Scriptures and for understanding Jewish culture in the era immediately preceding the birth of Jesus.
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