Cave 1Q: The Planted Scrolls? The people who first discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls were not archaeologists or scholars. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered by a group of Bedouin shepherds living in the Judean Desert in 1947. They were found near the ancient settlement of Qumran, on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. The most famous discovery story involves a young Bedouin shepherd, often identified as Muhammad edh-Dhib, who was searching for a lost goat. According to the traditional account, he threw a stone into a cave and heard pottery breaking. Investigating, he found ancient jars containing leather scrolls. The first discoverers: Bedouin shepherds near Qumran The traditional discovery story begins in 1947 among the Ta'amireh Bedouin, a tribal group that lived in the area around the Judean Desert. The person most often credited with finding the first cave is: Muhammad Ahmed el-Hamed , commonly known as Muhammad edh-Dhib ("Muhammad the Wolf"). He was a young Bedouin...
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