What are the Dead Sea Scrolls? Where Were They Found? Maps of Qumran Area Who Wrote the Scrolls? What is BYU's Involvement? What is FARMS? What is CPART? Article - LDS Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls The Book- LDS Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls Video Highlights and Offer

Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?

Scholars are still at odds over the answer to this question, although there is a general consensus that they were written by a group of Jews known as the Essenes. This group flourished during the Second Temple Period (150 BC-70 AD) in Judea. Scholars have identified similarities between the scrolls, the archaeology of the site at Qumran and the writings of ancient historians to identify the group as the Essenes. Early scholars Eleazar Sukenik of the Hebrew University and Frank Moore Cross of Harvard have led this identification effort. BYU scholar Andrew Skinner explains more in his article, "The Ancient People of Qumran"