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Class
Prep
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The
Dead Sea Region
 The
map to the left highlights the region southeast of Jerusalem where
the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Babatha Archive were found.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are the earlier documents. Over 900 manuscripts
were found in 11 caves at the northwest corner of the Dead Sea.
These works were biblical and literary in nature, with very few
of the documentary-type texts found in Babatha's Archive. They range
in date of execution from 300 B.C.E. to 68 C.E., the year the entire complex was destroyed by the Romans in the First Jewish Revolt. The eleven caves in which these scrolls
were found are located in a kind of reverse-"L" around the ruins at Khirbet Qumran (see the grey shape on the map).
Babatha and her relatives and acquaintances lived and harvested dates in the
oases of Maoza (southern tip of the Dead Sea) and 'Ein Gedi (mid-way
up the west coast). When the Second Jewish Revolt began, they fled
to the caves of Nahal Hever, just south of 'Ein Gedi, taking along
their belongings and documents in hopes that these would be needed
when calm was restored. But the Romans discovered their hideout and,
thinking them to be part of the rebel force, killed them.
Map designed by Thomas J. Carey, Librarian, San Francisco Public Library,
© 2001.
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