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Located on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, Khirbet Qumran is the ruin of an ancient Jewish community that was active from 130 B.C. to 135 A.D. These people were probably the Essenes, an isolationist sect, about 4000 in number, who considered themselves to be the true Israel, and who were disaffected from the priests in Jerusalem.
In 1947, a goatherder, searching for his goats in caves above the dry river bed, found several large jars. These jars contained the first seven scrolls of a find of ancient scrolls that has since become known as 'The Dead Sea Scrolls'. Since that time, 900 manuscripts have been found in eleven caves. It is considered by some scholars to be the most significant find of the 20th Century. Never-displayed Dead Sea Scrolls shown in Toronto
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