Searching for the Treasures of the Copper Scrolls

The story actually begins with the discovery of the famous Copper Scrolls in Qumran Cave #3 in 1952. The two scrolls were examined by experts in England and Israel and found to contain a list of sites and the various treasures hidden at each of them, presumably to hide them from the Romans. One of the sites mentioned in the scrolls is the Valley of Achor, in the Judean Desert between Jerusalem and Qumran. In the valley is the remains of a fortress called Hyrcania, originally built by the Hasmoneans in the first or second centuries BC and later rebuilt by Herod the Great.

After a failed attempt to uncover the Copper Scroll treasures from Hyrcania in the early 1960s, archaeologists returned in 2000 to try again. The earlier dig focused on a tunnel with a carved limestone entrance on the outside. The new dig sought to extend the excavation of that tunnel. Workers cleared out thousands of bags of sand and soil and soon discovered that the tunnel forked into two directions. After more excavations over the course of four years, to the disappointment of the archaeologists, the tunnels came to a dead end and no treasure was found. The purpose of the tunnels is unknown, but archaeologists plan to return to the site to continue their hunt for the treasures of the Copper Scrolls.

In all, the Copper Scrolls list 64 sites where various treasures were hidden, mostly focused around Qumran, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and various places in the Judean Desert.

By Will King, Correspondent, Israel Mosaic Radio