he rules of the desert sect called Yahad. It also contains the methods of joining the community, the relations among the members, their way of life , and their beliefs. The sect believed that human nature and all that happens in the world is predestined. The scroll ends with songs of praise of God. The scroll was found in cave 4 and cave 5 and It was written on parchment. The longest version was found in cave 4.8 The War Rule is commonly referred to as the “Pierced Messiah” text. It refers to a Messiah who came from the line of David, to be brought to a judgment and then to a killing. It anticipates the New Testament view of the preordained death of the messiah. It is written in a Hebrew script and is only a six line fragment.9 Most of the scrolls were found in caves near Qumran. The Qumran site was excavated to find the habitation of those who deposited the scrolls in the nearby caves. The excavations uncovered plates bowls and cemeteries with over twelve hundred graves that have the same characteristics which suggest religious uniformity, along with a complex of structures which suggested that they were communal in presentation.10 Many believe this is where a community of a distant Jewish sect called the Essenes may have once lived. The Essenes were members of a Jewish religious brotherhood, organized on a communal basis who practiced strict disciplines. The order had around 4000 members and they existed in Palestine and Syria from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD. The sects main settlements were on the shores of the Dead Sea.11 In some scholars views the site was the wilderness retreat of the Essenes. According to these scholars, the Essenes or another religious sect resided in neighboring locations, most likely caves, tents, and solid structures, but depended on the center for community facilities such as stores of food and water. 12 Many scholars believe the Essene community wrote, copied, or accumulated the scr...
