A group of scrolls and scroll fragments of leather, parchment, and papyrus, mostly dating from the last two centuries BC, that contain passages from books of the Hebrew Scriptures and from apocryphal biblical books as well as sectarian writings. They were discovered between 1947 and 1956 at sites along the Dead Sea and are of great importance for reconstructing the compilation of the Hebrew Scriptures and for understanding Jewish culture in the era immediately preceding the birth of Jesus.