Qumran National Park

Qumran sits above the northern Dead Sea, surrounded by the stark landscape of the Judean Desert. It is closely connected with the Dead Sea Scrolls, found in nearby caves and among the most important ancient manuscripts ever discovered.

A visit to the site offers a chance to consider the community that lived here, its ritual practices, water systems, and relationship to Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. Combined with a visit to the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, Qumran gives the scrolls a powerful physical setting.

The story of Qumran is one of a small community that chose the desert to live by its own strict vision of faith, order, and purity, then left behind writings that transformed our understanding of the biblical world.