"At Qumran is many caves. But that cave up there is where they find the jar holding the Dead Sea Scrolls I show you yesterday in the museum."He makes his perfunctory gesture toward the bluff and we dutifully peer up.
"In 1947 two Bedouin shepherd boys come here looking for the sheep. They toss a rock in that cave to scare out the sheep or the snakes. The rock hits pottery, and they find the seven big jars. Of course, it don't matter to the Arab what is in the jars. The Bedouin thinks of making money out of anything he fmds."
This is the hottest day we've had in the desert and we all drip with sweat.
"But when the Bedouin boys take the scroll out of ajar and carry it to Bethlehem to sell, the scholars know what it is they are seeing. They begin the study and they find the fragments from every book of the Bible except the Book of Ester wrapped in the linen and preserved in the jars. The scrolls is made by the Essenes."
