Qumran

Qumran is located less than a mile from the Dead Sea and is the site where it is generally accepted that a Bedouin goat- or sheep-herder by the name of Mohammed Ahmed el-Hamed made the first discovery in 1947, of what is now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Extensive excavations of the settlement have been undertaken and nearly 900 scrolls in various states of completeness, mostly written on parchment, have been found. Cisterns, possibly a few Jewish ritual baths, and cemeteries have been found, along with a dining or assembly room and debris from an upper story. The scrolls were found in a series of eleven caves just to the west of the settlement.