This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time.
Jeremiah 32:14
North of En Gedi towards the northwestern end of the Dead Sea is the site of Qumran. There was little interest in its archeological remains until something remarkable was found nearby: the Dead Sea Scrolls. Quite possibly the most important archaeological find ever, the scrolls include the oldest known copies of the Hebrew Bible. They were discovered in caves in the area between 1946 and 1956. Although debated, it is assumed that they were written at Qumran by a group known as the Essenes.
I read before the trip how to hike to one of the caves. After seeing Qumran, we drove a little ways north, pulled off to the side of the road and hiked a short ways to Cave 11 (the eleventh and last cave where scrolls were found). We didn’t find any scrolls as we poked around, but we did hear bats farther back.
Although not impressive on the outside, caves like this yielded these invaluable treasures. While not having any intrinsic or artistic value to them, they are valuable because of what is written on them. As the prophet Isaiah wrote, “the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8). Paper and ink may decay, but God’s words are an everlasting treasure!