In 1947, a shepherd working in the desert near the Dead Sea threw a rock into one of the area’s many caves. He heard something break, and when he went inside he discovered the first of what would be known as the Dead Sea Scrolls—ancient documents that contains drafts of the Hebrew bible and that have been key to scholars’ understanding of the Judeo-Christian past.
Now, for the first time in decades, archaeologists have found another cave connected to the scrolls.
This cave, which they suggest should be considered the 12th cave in the group, does not contain new scrolls, only the tools used to make them. A team of archaeologists found jars, leather bindings, cloth for wrapping the scrolls, and one actual scrolls, which was blank.
They also found two axe heads that date to the middle of the 20th century, leading them to believe that the cave was looted decades ago.
Still, this discovery raises the possibility that there are other, still undiscovered papers to be found.