Copper Scroll  [3Q15]

List detailing a vast treasure of gold & silver buried at various sites in Judea east of Jerusalem, inscribed on 3 copper sheets that were originally connected but discovered as 2 separate rolls at the back of Cave 3 at Qumran. Both the brittle material & unfamiliar technical vocabulary delayed deciphering the text. The fact that it is like no other text found at Qumran & appears to be incompatible with the Essenes reputation for simplicity have made it the center of heated scholarly disputes regarding the origins of the scrolls. So far archaeological excavations have not located any of the treasure. Thus, skeptics argue that it is a literary fiction. Others regard it as a genuine historical record but debate whether the treasure was from the Qumran sect or the Temple in Jerusalem.

Other resources on line:

  • Copper Scroll - image of scroll with background commentary by Marilyn Lundberg [West Semitic Research Project].

  • The Process of Writing the Copper Scroll - Meir Bar-Ilan analyzes the style & contents of the scroll, concluding that it is a genuine catalog of hidden treasure unrelated to other Dead Sea scrolls [Hebrew U].

Other important Dead Sea Scrolls

Perspective on the World of Jesus

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