Scholars currently agree that the ancient manuscripts found in the Qumran caves came from the library of a Jewish sect that lived there before the destruction of the Second Temple in the 1st century CE. But despite the extensive research done on these texts, there remains much debate over which were written in Qumran and which were written elsewhere, and about how different fragments fit together. Rossella Tercatin explains how genetic testing can provide answers:
Almost all the fragments analyzed turned out to be made from sheep skins, a species compatible with the desert environment, yet the parchment of two fragments was identified as cow hide. “Cattle breeding in principle is not possible in the desert, as cows require a lot of grass and water—therefore most likely those parchments were not produced locally but brought from outside,” the Bible scholar Noam Mizrahi said.
Moreover, one of the two fragments written on cow hide, featuring some text from the biblical book of Jeremiah, was previously believed by many experts to be part of the same scroll of another two fragments from the same book. However, the research proved that this was not possible, as the parchment was different.
The researchers did not stop at the animal species: they were able to ascertain more than whether two fragments were made of parchment manufactured from the same animal or from genetically related animals.
Among the fragments analyzed was a scroll uncovered in Masada featuring the Song of the Sabbath Sacrifice, considered very connected to the Qumran community. The artifact confirmed one of the pillars of the theory that refugees from Qumran made their way to Masada after its destruction by the Romans in 68 CE. However, that parchment was created using the skin of a sheep that seems genetically unrelated to the ones used for the Qumran copies examined, suggesting that the scroll was actually not originally from there.
Read more on Jerusalem Post: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/dna-analysis-of-dead-sea-scrolls-unveils-their-once-secret-origin-630043