israel 2007 - qumran

Home Day 1   Istanbul Day 2   Cairo Day 3   Sinai Peninsula   Mt. Sinai Day 4   Elat   Dead Sea Day 5   Masada   Ein Gedi   Qumran   Bet Shean Day 6   Sea of Galilee   Hazor   Tel Dan   Caesarea Philippi   Golan Heights   Capernaum   Sermon on Mount   Demoniac Pigs Day 7   Nazareth Village   Megiddo   Mt. Carmel   Caesarea Day 8   Rabbinical Tunnel   Via Dolorosa   Jerusalem Park   Hezekiah's Tunnel   Jerusalem Day 9   Temple Mount   Shrine of the Book   Neot Kedumim Reserve   Lakhish   Bethlehem Day 10   Gallicantu Church   Citadel Towers   Holy Sepulcher   Antonia Fortress   Bethesda Pool   Garden Tomb   Mt of Olives Maps & Movies   Biblical Archaeology   Jerusalem Ages   Map of Israel   Movies Links   Inside the Pyramids   Interactive Map of Israel Qumran is where some Bedouin shepherds found the Dead Sea Scrolls in some caves back in 1948. The scrolls were written by a bunch of hermit monks (the Essenes) before the time of Christ. They contain, among other things, parts of every OT book of the Bible except Esther. The text of the scrolls were almost exactly what we had in our Bibles up to this date, so that confirmed the accuracy of traditional manuscript copying techniques. The Dead Sea Scrolls are probably one of the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century. There's a small excavation in front of Qumran with some rooms and baths. Some of the rooms are pretty large!

	Here's a cistern used for trapping runoff water. To get an idea about how large it is, take a look at the white thing on the floor, 1/2 in the shadow. It's a baseball cap.
	The place is littered with caves.
	Here's a closeup, courtesy of the Sony DSC-H2 12x zoom.
	The area of Qumran is pretty large. Off in the distance, you can see white-covered rock. This happens over time as rain water comes down the mountain. I noticed a guy rappelling on the face of the cliff where there would be a waterfall when it rained hard. Thankfully it was dry that day.