1947～1956年在死海西北海岸几处隐秘地点发现的古代手稿，大部分是希伯来文。这些手稿撰写的日期可追溯到西元前3世纪到西元2世纪之间，在约一万五千个断简残篇中共拼凑了八百～九百多份手稿。多数学者认为在库姆兰（Qumran）废墟附近十一处洞穴发现的大量文献是属于犹太教的一个教团所有（大多认为是艾赛尼派〔Essenes〕），而有些学者则认为是属于撒都该人（Sadducee）或奋锐党人（Zealot）所有。这个教团排斥其他的犹太人，把世界截然划分为善与恶。他们营造了一种纯正仪式的共同生活，称作“联合会”，由一位弥赛亚的“正义之师”领导。从死海古卷中可宏观犹太人信仰，这些在西元66～73年战争期间从耶路撒冷被藏匿起来的手稿一直是图书馆的藏品。

 Caches of ancient, mostly Hebrew, manuscripts found at
several sites on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea (1947-56). The writings
date from between the 3rd century BC and the 2nd century AD and total 800-900
manuscripts in 15,000 fragments. Many scholars believe that those deposited in
11 caves near the ruins of Qumran belonged to a sectarian community whom most
scholars believe were Essenes, though other scholars suggest Sadducees or
Zealots. The community rejected the rest of the Jewish people and saw the world
as sharply divided between good and evil. They cultivated a communal life of
ritual purity, called the “Union,” led by a messianic “Teacher of
Righteousness.” The Dead Sea Scrolls as a whole represent a wider spectrum of
Jewish belief and may have been the contents of libraries from Jerusalem hidden
during the war of AD 66-73.

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