What is the Great Isaiah Scroll?

The Great Isaiah Scroll, designated 1QIsaa, is one of the original seven Dead Sea Scrolls discovered by Bedouin shepherds in 1947 in Qumran Cave 1. Dating from around 125 BCE, it is written in Hebrew on seventeen parchment sheets and contains the entire Book of Isaiah from beginning to end. It stands out as the oldest known complete copy of the Book of Isaiah and the only Qumran scroll preserved almost in its entirety.

What we know

• The Great Isaiah Scroll was discovered by Bedouin shepherds in 1947 from Qumran Cave 1. [2]
• The manuscript is approximately 734 cm long, comprises 54 columns of text, and is written on 17 sheets of parchment. [2]
• Dating from approximately 125 BCE, it is the oldest known complete copy of the Book of Isaiah among manuscripts from the Qumran caves. [2, 4]
• It is the only scroll discovered in the Qumran Caves that has been preserved almost in its entirety. [2]

Where to go next

• the bigger pictureWhat are the Dead Sea Scrolls?
• a case in pointWhat is inside the Great Psalms Scroll?
• compared withWhat text is contained in the Book of Isaiah?
• whereHow were the Qumran Caves used during the Second Temple period?
• whoWho discovered the initial manuscripts in 1947?
• an unexpected connectionHow does an ancient biblical manuscript relate to modern territorial disputes?The custody of the Dead Sea Scrolls is contested by Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and Israel based on historical, legal, and territorial claims stemming from the 1967 war.

Sources

• [1]Isaiah scroll (Wikidata Q1824743) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Isaiah Scroll · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Great Psalms Scroll · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Dead Sea Scrolls · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Book of Isaiah · CC BY-SA 4.0