Qumran. le secret des manuscrits de la mer morte, Paperback Book, By: Hericher, Laurent

Qumran: on a desolate plateau overlooking the shores of the Dead Sea, some ruins emptied of any inhabitant since Antiquity. 1947: A Bedouin chasing an animal accidentally enters a cave. He discovers some handwritten scrolls. Palestine under British mandate is living its last hours. No one yet knows where or how the Bedouins unearthed these ancient biblical texts ... and, coincidentally, the announcement of their discovery comes on the eve of the creation of the State of Israel. It takes seven years, from 1953 to 1960, to decipher the almost intact scrolls and piece together a puzzle of thousands of fragments, some no larger than the size of a confetti. It is an entire "library" of nearly 900 manuscripts that emerges in this way, untouched for nearly two thousand years! Our knowledge of the elaboration, transmission and fixation of the text of the Bible is disrupted. Who copied the Dead Sea Scrolls? Does the Rule of the Community govern the life of the occupants of the site of Qumran whom the archaeologists in turn invest? Is this the sect of the Essenes mentioned by ancient sources? Very quickly new questions divide the scientific community, and the general public also ignites for the subject: why does it take so long to disclose the contents of the scrolls? Do the manuscripts reveal unknown episodes from the life of John the Baptist or of Jesus of Nazareth? An international team bringing together the best specialists, bib lists, archaeologists and book historians.