Anton Kiraz’s Archive on the Dead Sea Scrolls

No scholarly discovery in modern times has been cloaked in more controversy than the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is especially true of the actual find of Cave I in 1946–1947, and the claims and counter-claims of ownership that ensued. One such claim came from Anton D. Kiraz, the contact between Mar Samuel and Prof. Sukenik. Kiraz left an extensive archive of letters, documents, and an interview with the Bedouins who discovered the scrolls, which are published here. The archive not only reveals Kiraz's claims of ownership, but also documents the minutest details concerning the discovery itself.