IT IS not my intention here to discuss what is con-
tained in the scrolls discovered in the caves near
the Dead Sea. It will suffice to recall that in 1947 a
Bedouin accidentally stumbled upon the first cave
which contained the most valuable of the scrolls: the
Commentary on the Book of Habakkuk; the Book of
Hymns or Psalms of Thanksgiving; the War of the Sons
of Light and the Sons of Darkness; and the Apocryphal
Genesis, recently unrolled. Two other caves were
discovered in February-March 1952, one of which
contained two copper scrolls. I was at Qumran on
September 1 of that same year, and Father de Vaux
told me it looked as though there would be no further
discoveries. A fortnight later the Bedouins discovered
Cave 4, the richest of all. Finally, seven other caves
containing fragments of lesser importance were also
discovered.

At the same time, the excavations being carried out
at the foot of the rocky cliff lying between Qumran and
the Dead Sea led to the discovery of some ancient
archeological ruins, now almost entirely cleared away.
Coins found on this site, dating from 130 B.C. to

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