In the background are the ruins of the settlement at Qumran. The settlement was occupied for about two centuries until 68 or 69, except for a period after an earthquake in 31 BCE. The settlement at Qumran consisted of a complex of structures with different functions, including workshops, stables, cisterns and what the excavators have indentified as a scriptorium. The Jewish religious community at Khirbet Qumran was founded sometime during the Hasmonean period.  Its members, probably Essenes, were disaffected Jews who had withdrawn from participation in Temple worship. In the foreground are visible some of the caves in which scrolls were found. The remainder of the eleven caves are in the vicinity. 

 

 

Jars like this one contained some of the scrolls found at Qumran. The arid climate kept the documents from decay.