Hebrew: Serek^h ha-Milhamah

Nine & a half foot scroll [19 columns] found in cave 1 at Qumran, conceived as a sequel to the eschatological war envisioned in Dan 11-12. The author gives detailed instructions for a ritualized battle in which the "sons of light," championed by Michael, massacre the Kittim, identified as the "sons of darkness," led by Satan. This vision of a violent end to the dominion of the Kittim -- a veiled allusion to the Romans, as in Daniel -- must have been composed between 50 BCE & 65 CE. This scroll was acquired by Hebrew University in Jerusalem soon after its discovery in 1947. Fragments of 4 other copies of this scroll were found in Cave 4.

Other resources on line:

• War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness - three photos of war scroll [posted by Orion Center, Hebrew U.]

• The War Scroll - magnifiable scrollable image of the whole work [Digital Dead Sea Scrolls, Israel Museum, Jerusalem].

• The War Scroll - overview & translation of column 1 [archived by PBS Frontline special From Jesus to Christ].

• The War Rule - chapter 7 in Geza Vermes' Dead Sea Scrolls in English with his analysis & 1962 translation of 1QM.

• War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness  - line by line English translation of complete scroll.