1. St. Mark’s Monastery Isaiah Scroll (Isaiah A, or IQIsa).

It is a popular copy with

numerous corrections above the line or in the margin and is the earliest known copy of any
complete book of the Bible.
2. Manual of Discipline, a scroll containing rules and regulations of the Qumran sect.
3. Commentary on the book of Habakkuk, containing the text of the first two chapters of the
Prophet Habakkuk with a running interpretation.
4. Genesis Apocryphon, first known as the Lamech Scroll, containing Apocryphal accounts
in Aramaic of some of the patriarchs of Genesis.
5. Hebrew University Isaiah (Isaiah B, or IQIsb) is incomplete but its text agrees more
closely with the Masoretic text than does Isaiah A.
6. War Scroll, whose full title is War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness,
gives an account of preparation for the end-time war between the Qumran sect and their
enemies.
7. Thanksgiving Hymns contain about thirty hymns, which resemble Old Testament
psalms.28

9. Qumran caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found (Giovanni
Trimboli)
Cave I was officially excavated betwen February 15 and March 9, 1949. It yielded
fragments of Genesis, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Judges, Samuel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Psalms,
and some nonbiblical works including Enoch, Sayings of Moses (previously unknown),
Book of Jubilee, Book of Noah, Testament of Levi, Tobit, and the Wisdom of Solomon. An

28
28. Taken from Menahem Mansoor, The Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 2-3.

5
interesting fragment of Daniel,containing 2:4 (where the language changes from Hebrew to
Aramaic), also comes from this cave. Fragmentary commentaries on Psalms, Micah, and
Zephaniah were also found in Cave I.29
Cave II This cave, first discovered and pilferred by the Bedouin, was excavated
between March 10 and 29, 1952. Fragments of about a hundred manuscripts, including two
of Exodus, one of Leviticus, four of Numbers, two or three of Deuteronomy, one of
Jeremiah, Job, Psalms, and two of Ruth, were found. However, nothing so spectacular as
the manuscripts found in some of the other caves was uncovered.
Cave III Cave III was found by the archaeologists and searched on March 14, 1952. It
disclosed two halves of a copper scroll with directions to sixty or sixty-four sites containing
hidden treasures. These sites were mostly in and around the Jerusalem area, ranging from
north of Jericho to the Vale of Achor. Thus far, search for the treasures has been unfruitful.
Various views have emerged to explain this scroll. It has been suggested that it is the work
of a crank, or part of the people’s folklore, or possibly a record of the deposits of the tithe
money and sacred vessels dedicated to the Temple service.30
Cave IV This cave (Partridge Cave), after being ransacked by the Bedouin, was
searched in September, 1952, and it proved to be the most productive cave of all. Literally
thousands of fragments were recovered either by purchase from the Bedouin or by the
archaeologists’ sifting the dust on the floor of the cave. These scraps represent hundreds of
manuscripts (nearly four hundred of which have already been identified), including about
one hundred copies of Bible books (all except Esther). The fragment of Samuel (4QSamb)
is thought to be the oldest known piece of biblical Hebrew, dating from the third century
B.C. Also found were a few fragments of commentaries of the Psalms, Isaiah, and Nahum.
The entire collection of Cave IV is believed to represent the scope of the Qumran library,
and judging from the relative number of books found, their favorite books seemed to be
Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Psalms, and the Minor Prophets, in that order. An interesting
fragment containing some of Daniel 7:28, 8:1 (where the language changes back from
Aramaic to Hebrew) was found.
Cave V This cave was excavated in September 1952. Fragments of Tobit and some
biblical books, all in an advanced stage of deterioration, were found.
Cave VI This cave was investigated on September 27, 1952, and produced, strangely
enough, mostly papyrus instead of leather fragments. Papyrus pieces of Daniel, 1 Kings,
and 2 Kings were among the finds.

29
29. For a more detailed list of the manuscript fragments from the various caves see Biblical Archaeologist
(Sept. 1965), pp. 87-100. Also see Gleason L. Archer, Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, “Appendix
4: Inventory of the Biblical Manuscripts from the Dead Sea Caves,” pp. 505-509.
30
30. See John M. Allegro, The Treasure of the Copper Scroll, 2d rev. ed.