Israel and You Spaces and Places in Israel 
My visit to Qumran
Visiting the 2,000 year-old ruins of Qumran, overlooking the Dead Sea on the edge of the Judean Wilderness, you gain a deeper appreciation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which contain the oldest Bible ever found, and were discovered right here.
What do you see?
- The scribes room (scriptorium)
- Pavement for drying dates
- Potters’ workshop
- Dining hall
- Ritual baths, water supply and cisterns
- Public structures (Assembly hall)
- Refectory and pantry
- Pottery workshop & Kiln
- Tower, kitchen, residential rooms
- Cemetery of a thousand tombs
- An exciting film in the Visitors Center
The peek of the visit experience is the exciting view of the cave in which most of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found – which is reached without any extreme effort on the newly installed walkways. Here are original photos of Qumran as I saw it on my last visit.
Questions left unanswered
Archaeologists and historians cannot agree on the meaning of the finds in Qumran and the Dead Sea Scroll. There are more questions than answers. Ask you tour guide to tell you his opinion. It is as good as any orther.
- Who lived here?
- Were they Essenes?
- Who wrote the scrolls?
- Why did they write the scrolls?
- Why did they hide them?
- Did John the Baptist live here?
Qumran Decoded
Reconstruction? Yes. Essene? Maybe
Credit: Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls Lecture 1 10 27 2016-YouTube-Lawrence Troster
Read also: The Dead Sea Scrolls of Qumran
