Dead Sea Jar Lid Found to Hold Decomposed Papyrus

PRESS RELEASE

A study of ancient residue in a clay jar lid, originally coming from the area where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, has shown that it contained decomposed papyrus. Numerous cylindrical jars and lids were found in caves close to the ancient site of Qumran, west of the Dead Sea, but these were largely broken and empty, and their association with scrolls has been doubted. The discovery of decomposed papyrus in one of the lids adds to the evidence that scrolls were once placed in them, even when no scroll fragments have survived.