Day Seven Part One Qumran

Today was a very full day… full of lots of walking and hiking and climbing. It felt like all uphill… both ways… but I know it wasn’t. But it was a great day of exploring this wonderful land it’s rich history.
We drove as close as the highway would take us to Jericho, but it is in Palestinian territory so we were not able to see it, but I did take a picture of the area it was in out through the car window. It was fun seeing all the camels in the dessert on the trip to Qumran. We looked for one that we could hire to take us for a ride, but I don’t think the guys were much into the idea.
Our first stop was at Qumran; my children would know this as the place that Jathom was taken by the monk who rescued him by acting like a fool. It is most widely known for being the place where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered.
Let’s see if I can put the story in a nutshell for you. It all began in the spring of 1947 (my dad had just turned 11 but that is another story). It was the beginning of another ordinary day for Muhammad Adh-Dhib and his tribe of Bedouin. Little did he know what the day would have in store for him. A group of Bedouin from the Ta’amireh tribe were on their way from Transjordan to the black market in Bethlehem. The purpose of the journey was to sell a herd of ‘contraband’ goats. Normally such a route would not have been used but due to the political scene in Palestine at the time, they needed a route that would avoid them getting caught. Muhammad noticed that one of his goats had wandered off up the steep rocky cliffs while he was seeking fresh water and tending the other goats. He immediately set off to retrieve the stray goat. Bedouin are renowned for their ability to track down stray animals through the hills and deserts of the wilderness. While searching he came across a small opening in the rocks and became curious and proceeded to throw rocks into the cave. When he did he heard a sound of breaking pottery. Thinking he may have discovered hidden treasure, he returned to get some help from a friend. They both returned to the cave excited and hopeful of what they might find. Inside they found fragments of broken pottery littering the floor and large earthenware jars all along one side. They removed one of the lard bowl like lids and found some dusty old parchments with strange writings on them, all of which were wrapped up in linen cloth. Muhammad nor his friend knew how to read so the writings had no meaning to them. They took their findings into Bethlehem and someone there recognized them as an important find. After a few years of haggling and maneuvering to gain control of the scrolls they announced their find. The actual scrolls are now in the Israeli museum in Jerusalem. Knowing that there must be some type of community close to the caves that held the scrolls, archeologist started looking for signs of life and found Qumran. Qumran was a monastery once occupied by the Jewish Sect known as the Essenes. We walked up on the Qumran Watch tower over looking the Dead Sea and enjoyed learning about the water system.
It was very hot here being in the dessert.
We then went on to En Gedi.