The Dead Sea Scrolls Reading Answers

The Dead Sea Scrolls Reading Answers is an academic reading passage and has a total of 13 questions which are divided into two different categories. Which tests students’ various type of skills so they must go through the passage with an active mind to find the related keywords and synonyms from the passage in order to correctly answer the questions so below you will find answers to the dead sea scrolls passage.

The Dead Sea Scrolls IELTS Reading Answers.

1. Rock8. True
2. Cave9. True
3. Clay10. False
4. Essenes11. False
5. Hebrew12. True
6. Not Given13. Not Given
7. False

Check out the other answers of this reading

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The Dead Sea Scrolls Reading Answers Passage Tips.

  • This reading passage talks about the origins of the dead sea scrolls and it is a very interesting passage to read and you will hook on the passage plus you will learn something new from it.
  • There are two types of questions in this reading. The first one is the complete the sentence and True/False/Not Given.
  • You must find the first questions answers and the next questions answer will be next to that or after a few sentences.
  • You must keep the time in mind as you only got limited time in this reading so if you get stuck on one question then you will lose other answers too.
  • This reading passage is easy in the difficulty level so you will not find much difficulty to find all the answers. but if you do find any difficulty then you can check out our explanation for this reading which is provided below this paragraph.
  • In order to find the true and false questions then you need to find the keywords of the questions from the paragraph. If you do not find any keywords then it will be a not given.

The Dead Sea Scrolls Reading Passage.

In case you want to try it one more time or you can bookmark it to try this reading passage another time when you gain good confidence in the reading module.

The Dead Sea Scrolls

In late 1946 or early 1947, three Bedouin teenagers were tending their goats and sheep near the ancient settlement of Qumran, located on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea in what is now known as the West Bank. One of these young shepherds tossed a rock into an opening on the side of a cliff and was surprised to hear a shattering sound. He and his companions later entered the cave and stumbled across a collection of large clay jars, seven of which contained scrolls with writing on them. The teenagers took the seven scrolls to a nearby town where they were sold for a small sum to a local antiquities dealer. Word of the find spread, and Bedouins and archaeologists eventually unearthed tens of thousands of additional scroll fragments from 10 nearby caves; together they make up between 800 and 900 manuscripts. It soon became clear that this was one of the greatest archaeological discoveries ever made.

The origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were written around 2,000 years ago between 150 BCE and 70 CE, is still the subject of scholarly debate even today. According to the prevailing theory, they are the work of a population that inhabited the area until Roman troops destroyed the settlement around 70 CE. The area was known as Judea at that time, and the people are thought to have belonged to a group called the Essenes, a devout Jewish sect.

The majority of the texts on the Dead Sea Scrolls are in Hebrew, with some fragments written in an ancient version of its alphabet thought to have fallen out of use in the fifth century BCE. Bu’ there are other languages as well. Some scrolls are in Aramaic, the language spoken by many inhabitants of the region from the sixth century BCE to the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. In addition, several texts feature translations of the Hebrew Bible into Greek.

The Dead Sea Scrolls include fragments from every book of the Old Testament of the Bible except for the Book of Esther. The only entire book of the Hebrew Bible preserved among the manuscripts from Qumran is Isaiah; this copy, dated to the first century BCE, is considered the earliest biblical manuscript still in existence. Along with biblical texts, the scrolls include documents about sectarian regulations and religious writings that do not appear in the Old Testament.

The writing on the Dead Sea Scrolls is mostly in black or occasionally red ink, and the scrolls themselves are nearly all made of either parchment (animal skin) or an early form of paper called ‘papyrus’. The only exception is the scroll numbered 3Q15, which was created out of a combination of copper and tin. Known as the Copper Scroll, this curious document features letters chiseled onto metal – perhaps, as some have theorized, to better withstand the passage of time. One of the most intriguing manuscripts from Qumran, this is a sort of ancient treasure map that lists dozens of gold and silver caches. Using an unconventional vocabulary and odd spelling, it describes 64 underground hiding places that supposedly contain riches buried for safekeeping. None of these hoards have been recovered, possibly because the Romans pillaged Judea during the first century CE. According to various hypotheses, the treasure belonged to local people, or was rescued from the Second Temple before its destruction or never existed to begin with.

Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls have been on interesting journeys. In 1948, a Syrian Orthodox archbishop known as Mar Samuel acquired four of the original seven scrolls from a Jerusalem shoemaker and part-time antiquity dealer, paying less than $100 for them. He then travelled to the United States and unsuccessfully offered them to a number of universities, including Yale. Finally, in 19M, he placed an advertisement in the business newspaper The Wall Street Journal’ – under the category ‘Miscellaneous Items for Sale’ – that read: ‘Biblical Manuscripts: dating back to at least 200 B.C. are for sale. This would be an ideal gift to an educational or religious institution by an individual or group.’ Fortunately, Israeli archaeologist and statesman Yigael Yadin negotiated their purchase and brought the scrolls back to Jerusalem, where they remain to this day.

In 2017, researchers from the University of Haifa restored and deciphered one of the last untranslated scrolls. The university’s Eshbal Ratson and Jonathan Ben-Dov spent one year reassembling the 60 fragments that make up the scroll. Deciphered from a band of coded text on parchment, the find provides insight into the community of people who wrote it and the 364-day calendar they would have used. The scroll names celebrations that indicate shifts in seasons and details two yearly religious events known from another Dead Sea Scroll. Only one more known scroll remains untranslated.

Questions 1-5
Complete the notes below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

The Dead Sea Scrolls
Discovery
Qumran, 1946/7

  • three Bedouin shepherds in their teens were near an opening on side of cliff
  • heard a noise of breaking when one teenager threw a (1) …………………….
  • teenagers went into the (2) …………………. and found a number of containers made of (3) ……………….

The scrolls

  • date from between 150 BCE and 70 CE
  • thought to have been written by group of people known as the (4) ………………….
  • written mainly in the (5) …………………. language
  • most are on religious topics, written using ink on parchment or papyrus

Questions 6-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 6-13 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

  1. The Bedouin teenagers who found the scrolls were disappointed by how little money they received for them.
  2. There is agreement among academics about the origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
  3. Most of the books of the Bible written on the scrolls are incomplete.
  4. The information on the Copper Scroll is written in an unusual way.
  5. Mar Samuel was given some scrolls as a gift.
  6. In the early 1950s, a number of educational establishments in the US were keen to buy scrolls from Mar Samuel.
  7. The scroll that was pieced together in 2017 contains information about annual occasions in the Qumran area 2.000 yea-s ago.
  8. Academics at the University of Haifa are currently researching how to decipher the final scroll.

The Dead Sea Scrolls Reading Answers with Explanation.

Answer 1: Rock

Explanation: We can see in the paragraph one line third it says that the one of the young shepherds tossed a rock into an opening on the side of a cliff and surprised to hear a shattering sound.

Answer 2: Cave

Explanation: after the first question’s line writer talks about, he and his companions later entered the cave and stumbled across a collection of large clay jars.

Answer 3: Clay

Explanation: In the same line of the question second’s line writer talks about the clay jars so it’s clear from it that the jars are made of the clay so the answer is the clay

Answer 4: Essenes

Explanation: In the paragraph two last line explains that the area was known as Judea at that time and the people are thought to have belonged to the group called as Essenes. So, it clearly stats that the group is known as the Essenes

Answer 5: Hebrew

Explanation: The paragraph three’s first line clearly mentions that the majority of the texts on the dead sea scrolls are in Hebrew.

Answer 6. Not Given

Explanation: The first paragraph’s sixth line states that the teenagers sold a small sum to the local antiquities dealer but does not talk about the fact that they were disappointed.

Answer 7: False

Explanation: The second paragraph’s first line clearly mentioned that there is still debate going on the origin of the dead sea scrolls. so, it’s clearly opposite to the question.

Answer 8: True

Explanation: The paragraph four’s first line talks about the Dead Sea Scrolls include fragments from every book of the Old Testament of the bible expect for the book of Esther

Answer 9: True

Explanation: The paragraph five’s second line stats that perhaps, as some have theorized, to be better withstand the passage time

Answer 10. False

Explanation: Sixth paragraph’s first line states that the Mar Samuel gets the scrolls from the part time antiquity dealer for less than 100 dollars

Answers 11: False

Explanation: Paragraph 6 last line clearly mentions that the Yigel Ladin purchased and brought the scrolls back to Jerusalem, where they remain to this day.

Answer 12: True

Explanation: The last paragraph’s third line states that Tdeciphered from ta band coded text on parchment, the find provides insight into the community of the people who wrote it and the 364-day calendar they would have used.

Answer 13: Not Given

Explanation: No information available for this question in the reading passage.

Conclusion

This The Dead Sea Scrolls Reading Answers is easy in the difficulty level when you will read the explanation of this reading then you will get to know how the answers were in lined in the series hopefully you get the good score in this reading.

Prabh Pandher

Prabh Pandher

Hello friends, my name is Prabhjot Singh Pandher. I am the writer and founder of this blog and YouTube channel. Here I share all the information related to the IELTS reading answers. I have scored 7.5 bands in IELTS recently. Reading module is my favorite so I have a good grip on reading module

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