Editing Dead Sea Scrolls (section)

===Excavations of Qumran and new cave discoveries (1951–1956, 2017, 2021)===
In November 1951, de Vaux and his team from the ASOR began a full excavation of Qumran.<ref name="gnosis.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.gnosis.org/library/dss/dss_timeline.htm |title=Dead Sea Scrolls: Timetable |publisher=The Gnostic Society Library |access-date=23 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030816214926/http://www.gnosis.org/library/dss/dss_timeline.htm |archive-date=16 August 2003 |url-status=dead }}</ref> By February 1952, the Bedouins had discovered 30 fragments in what was to be designated Cave 2.<ref name="Vanderkam">{{Cite book | last=VanderKam | first=James C. | title=The Dead Sea Scrolls Today | pages=10–11 | year=1994 | publisher=Eerdmans | location=Grand Rapids | isbn=978-0802807366}}</ref> The discovery of a second cave eventually yielded 300 fragments from 33 manuscripts, including fragments of [[Book of Jubilees|Jubilees]] and the [[Wisdom of Sirach]] written in Hebrew.{{r|biblicaltheology.com|gnosis.org}} The following month, on 14 March 1952, the ASOR team discovered a third cave with fragments of Jubilees and the [[Copper Scroll]].{{r|Vanderkam}} Between September and December 1952, the fragments and scrolls of Caves 4, 5, and 6 were discovered by the ASOR teams.{{r|gnosis.org}}

With the monetary value of the scrolls rising as their historical significance was made more public, the Bedouins and the ASOR archaeologists accelerated their search for the scrolls separately in the same general area of Qumran, which was more than one kilometre in length. Between 1953 and 1956, de Vaux led four more archaeological expeditions in the area to uncover scrolls and artefacts.{{r|biblicaltheology.com}} Cave 11 was discovered in 1956 and yielded the last fragments to be found in the vicinity of Qumran.<ref>{{cite web | title=Digital Dead Sea Scrolls at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem – Discovery | url=http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/discovery | access-date=4 November 2023}}</ref>

Caves 4–10 are clustered in an area lying in relative proximity {{convert|160|yards|m|abbr=on|disp=flip}} from Khirbet Qumran, while caves 1, 2, 3 and 11 are located 1 mile (1–2 kilometres) north, with Cave 3 the most remote.<ref name="LibAnn">{{cite journal|title=Qumran in the Second Temple Period: Reassessing the Archaeological Evidence. |author=Yizhar Hirschfeld |journal=Liber Annuus |date=2002 |volume=52 |pages=279–281 |quote=Some of these caves, such as 4 and 5, are located ca. 160 yd from the site, while others, such as 1, 2, 3 and 11, are at a distance of 1 mile to its north (Fig. 12) |url=http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/sbf/Books/LA52/LA52247Hirschfeld_Qumran.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060517184932/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/sbf/Books/LA52/LA52247Hirschfeld_Qumran.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 May 2006 |access-date=23 January 2016 |author-link=Yizhar Hirschfeld }}</ref><ref>Martinez/Tigchelaar (1999). [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7xcvitgyGmgU0sxOVV3SXVBZTQ/view?usp=sharing The Dead Sea Scrolls Edition], Caves 1 to 11 & more (Enoch Aramaic fragments and translation by Milik: Hénoc au pays des aromates, pp. 413, 425, 430)</ref> In February 2017, Hebrew University archaeologists announced the discovery of a new 12th cave.<ref name="Q12_2017">{{cite press release|url=http://new.huji.ac.il/en/article/33424|title=Hebrew University Archaeologists Find 12th Dead Sea Scrolls Cave|publisher=Hebrew University of Jerusalem|date=8 February 2017|access-date=9 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209094500/http://new.huji.ac.il/en/article/33424|archive-date=9 February 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> There was one blank parchment found in a jar, but broken and empty scroll jars and pickaxes suggest that the cave was looted in the 1950s.<ref name="McKernan">{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/new-dead-sea-scrolls-cave-discovered-archaelogists-artefacts-2000-year-old-antiquities-west-bank-a7571696.html|title=New Dead Sea Scrolls cave filled with ancient artefacts discovered for first time in 60 years|work=The Independent|last1=McKernan|first1=Bethan|year=2017|access-date=2 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115211657/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/new-dead-sea-scrolls-cave-discovered-archaelogists-artefacts-2000-year-old-antiquities-west-bank-a7571696.html|archive-date=15 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

In March 2021, Israeli archaeologists announced the discovery of dozens of fragments bearing biblical text, written in Greek, from the books of [[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]] and [[Book of Nahum|Nahum]]. This group of findings is believed to have been hidden in a cave between 132 and 136 CE during the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]].<ref name="Associated Press">{{Cite web |last=Zion |first=Ilan |date=16 March 2021 |title=Israeli experts announce discovery of more Dead Sea scrolls |url=https://apnews.com/article/new-dead-sea-scrolls-israel-19844d3eb208190914182e78d9d79aac |access-date=16 March 2021 |website=APNews}}</ref> However, a 10,500-year-old basket made of woven [[Reed (plant)|reeds]] was also discovered in the [[Wadi Murabba'at|Muraba'at caves]] in the Nahal Darga Reserve. Other discoveries included the remains of a child wrapped in cloth dated to around 6,000 years ago, and a cache of coins from the days of the Bar Kochba revolt.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-israel-finds-new-dead-sea-scroll-first-such-discovery-in-60-years-1.9621317 |title=Israel Finds New Dead Sea Scrolls, First Such Discovery in 60 Years |website=Haaretz |date=16 March 2021 }}</ref> In 2021, more scrolls were discovered by Israeli authorities in a different cave near the Dead Sea called the [[Cave of Horrors]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kershner|first=Isabel|date=16 March 2021|title=Israel Reveals Newly Discovered Fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/world/middleeast/dead-sea-scrolls-israel.html|access-date=2 April 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Newly discovered fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls reveal hidden ancient Bible texts|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/dead-sea-scrolls-discoveries-are-first-ancient-bible-texts-be-n1261182|access-date=2 April 2021|website=NBC News|date=18 March 2021}}</ref>