A Haifa University statement said that Ratson and Ben-Dov were now working on deciphering the last remaining scroll. The Dead Sea Scrolls, which include the oldest known manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, date from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD. Numbering around 900, they were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in the Qumran caves above the Dead Sea. Many experts believe the manuscripts of the Dead Sea were written by the Essenes, a dissident Jewish sect that had retreated into the Judaean desert around Qumran and its caves. The latest deciphered scroll contains references to the 364-day calendar used by the sect, as opposed to the lunar calendar used in Jewish religious practice today.

Source: The Nation Bangkok January 22, 2018 10:18 UTC