The Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls

The misconception that most of what there is to know about the 2,000 year-old Dead Sea Scrolls was revealed after their discovery in the late 1940s and early 1950s is turned upside down in this fascinating documentary.

Filmmaker Justin Cartwright obtained exclusive access to new research data and to the restoration process. The camera catches experts from Russia chemically removing the scotch tape placed on the scrolls by 1950s researchers and leads the viewer through the extremely delicate tasks of preservation.

Cartwright delves into how science has established the authorship of the Dead Sea Scrolls and determined the locale in which the manuscripts were written. Neutron activators determine if the chemical composition of the jars in which the scrolls were stored matches the surrounding locale or sediment from Jerusalem close to 13 miles away. Mandible comparisons performed on skulls reveal those with dentition that suggests a diet heavily involved with sand and dentition that suggests a diet from other locales. Examination of these bones, buried in Qumran where the scrolls were discovered in caves, confirm an all-male community, which suggests that it was the Essenes, a strict Torah observant, Messianic, apocalyptic new Covenant Jewish sect who authored the scrolls.

The Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls documentary delineates the many avenues of research on Judaism and early Christianity yet to be pursued and the fascinating new material presented in the film sheds light on the Scrolls as "an evolutionary link" between the two religions.