Great Isaiah Scroll

Paleographic and radiocarbon analysis dates the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa) to between 150 BC and 100 BC. This makes the manuscript over two thousand years old.

It is the only complete book found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, containing all 66 chapters of the Book of Isaiah. Its text is remarkably consistent with much later medieval Hebrew manuscripts, proving the incredible accuracy of centuries of scribal transmission.

The scroll was found in 1947 in Cave 1 at Qumran, located near the Dead Sea. It was initially discovered by local Bedouin shepherds who were searching for lost livestock.

The Great Isaiah Scroll is currently housed in the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, which was built specifically to house the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is displayed on a rotating basis to preserve the delicate parchment from light damage.