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The Copper Scroll is one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the ancient Jewish texts found in the caves near Qumran by the Dead Sea between 1947 and 1956. Scholars list it as 3Q15.
It is unlike the others. They are written on parchment or papyrus, but this one is engraved on metal: copper mixed with about 1 percent tin. And it is not a religious or literary work. It is a list of hidden treasure.
Background and Discovery
Discovery Date: The scroll was found in 1952 in Cave 3 at Qumran. It lay at the back of the cave and was the last of 15 scrolls found there. Unlike most of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which Bedouin found, it was found by archaeologists.
Material: It came out of the cave as two rolls of copper. In fact they were two parts of one scroll, about (7.87 feet) long.
Age: Scholars do not agree on the date. Frank Moore Cross proposed 25 to 75 CE, William F. Albright 70 to 135 CE, and Józef Milik about 100 CE. Several scholars settle on around 70 CE, the year the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem.
Language: The Hebrew is close to the language of the Mishnah, not the biblical Hebrew of most other scrolls. Much of its vocabulary is found nowhere in the Bible.
Content
The scroll reads like a treasure map. It gives 64 places, and 63 of them hold gold and silver. The amounts have been estimated in tons. Some entries list vessels, a few list scrolls, and one seems to list priestly vestments.
Each entry follows the same pattern: a general place, an exact spot (often with how deep to dig), and what lies there.
Treasure Descriptions: The descriptions specify enormous amounts of gold, silver and other precious materials. Józef Milik’s 1960 translation gives the first entry like this.
The first entry starts in the Valley of Achor.
At Khorebbeh, situated in the valley of Achor, below the steps leading to the east, (dig) forty cubits: a coffer (full) of money, the sum of which is the weight of seventeen talents. KEN.
J. T. Milik, "The Copper Document from Cave III of Qumran", ADAJ 4-5 (1960), p. 139, short excerpt for review and study
The last entry points to a second copy with more detail. That copy has never been found.
The final entry promises a fuller copy near Kohlit.
At the tunnel in the Smooth Rock to the north of Kohlit, which opens towards the north and which has tombs at its entrance: a copy of this document, with the explanations, measurements…
J. T. Milik, "The Copper Document from Cave III of Qumran", ADAJ 4-5 (1960), p. 142, short excerpt for review and study
Mystery of the Treasure: None of the treasure has ever been found. John Allegro led a dig in 1962 at some of the listed places and came back empty handed. Some scholars think the treasure was never real. Others think the Romans found it, or that Jews took it back after the war.
Theories About Its Origin
Theodor H. Gaster sorted the theories into four groups.
Temple Treasures: The treasure may come from the Second Temple, hidden before the Romans destroyed it in 70 CE. Gaster objected that, according to Josephus, the main Temple treasure was still inside when the Temple fell.
Essene Community: The treasure may have belonged to the community at Qumran, often linked with the Essenes. The difficulty is that this was a strict, simple brotherhood, which fits badly with great wealth.
First Temple: A third option is the treasure of the First Temple, destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE. The scroll was written far too late for this.
Propaganda or Exaggeration: Gaster himself thought the list was a hoax. Others think the amounts are exaggerated or symbolic.
Manfred Lehmann had another view: Temple gifts collected after 70 CE, while the Temple lay in ruins.
Physical and Linguistic Features
Construction: The letters were struck into the copper with a hammer and chisel, which gives the script an odd look. By the time it was found, the metal had turned into brittle oxide, and no metallic copper was left.
Distinctiveness: The text has no literary or religious style. It reads like an inventory, and its phrasing is close to Greek temple inventories, such as those of the temple of Apollo. Seven place names are followed by two or three Greek letters, like the “KEN” above. Some think these stand for numbers.
Modern Analysis
Restoration: The scroll was too corroded to unroll. It was sent to Manchester, where Professor H. Wright Baker cut it into 23 strips in 1955 and 1956. Allegro published a translation in 1960, and Milik’s official edition followed in 1962. From 1994 to 1996, Electricité de France cleaned it, X-rayed it and made a facsimile. Since 2013 it has been on show at the Jordan Museum in Amman.
Scholarly Debate: Some scholars see the list as fantasy. Others see it as a real administrative record of the Temple, whose meaning is now lost. Either way, as a long Hebrew text from this time it matters for the study of the language.
Locations mentioned
The place names are vague by today’s standards. They often rely on landmarks that have gone or were never identified, and the distances are given in cubits or steps.
- Valley of Achor – Often referenced as a location for buried treasures. This valley is mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible as being near Jericho, but the exact coordinates today are uncertain. In the Book of Joshua, Achan’s stolen silver and gold are brought “unto the valley of Achor” (Joshua 7:24, KJV).
- Kohlit – Named in several entries, including “the hill of Kohlit” and the last entry, the tunnel north of Kohlit with tombs at its entrance. The place has not been identified.
- Bet ha-Qos (House of Hakkoz) – A cave near this place holds six bars of silver. Hakkoz was a priestly family: “The seventh to Hakkoz” (1 Chronicles 24:10, KJV). The site of their house is not known.
- Cisterns – Many treasures lie in or near cisterns and pools, such as “the cistern in front of the Eastern Gate”. The Eastern Gate may be a gate of the Temple Mount.
- Tomb of Zadok – Milik reads “the tomb of Sadoq”. Zadok was high priest under David and Solomon, but this tomb has not been found.
- Cave of the Column – A cave with two entrances facing east. Dig three cubits at the north entrance to find a jar with a book in it, and 42 talents beneath.
Some other readings of the scroll also give the names below. They are not found in Milik’s 1960 translation.
- Hill of Shaveh – A landmark for hiding treasure. The name Shaveh also appears in the Bible, but where it was is unclear.
- Solitary Cistern – A cistern described as “solitary”, or isolated. Its place is not known.
- Brook of Essene – A brook or stream that might be linked with the Essenes, who are thought to have lived at Qumran. It is not well defined.
- Fortress of Matia – A landmark that has not been identified. It could be a real fortress or a symbolic term.
- Ruins of the Valley of Geres – A place linked to some of the treasure. Where it lay is unknown, and “Geres” does not match any well-known historical site.
Because so many of the landmarks are lost, the locations remain open to interpretation and debate among archaeologists and scholars.
