The Dead Sea Scrolls

J. M. Allegro

In the early summer of 1947 an Arab shepherd stumbled upon a cave near the Dead Sea, containing seven ancient scrolls. They proved to be part of the library of a Jewish monastic community living before and during the time of Christ. Later discoveries produced the remains of hundreds more scrolls from the same source, so that today we have an undreamt-of insight into Jewish sectarianism of this all-important period. It is already clear that many of the characteristic ideas of Jewish Christianity were cradled in just such a religious environment. The study of this exciting new evidence is fast becoming a field of research on its own account, and this book surveys in popular form some of the more important results so far achieved, with a particular orientation towards New Testament studies where, it is now clear, the main interest of these priceless documents must lie.