The Essenes were a Jewish religious group that flourished from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century CE. They saw themselves as distinct from others because of their inner life and their knowledge of the hidden mysteries of nature, unknown to others. The Essenes believed that they were the heirs of God and their own civilization. They felt sent on a mission and that they were true saints and teachers of wisdom. They were open to all religions and considered each as the springboard for a unique revelation. They believed they were capable of communicating with angelic beings and believed they had discovered the origin of Evil on Earth. The Essenes spent most of their time decoding ancient manuscripts and translating them into different languages. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls caused the Essenes to attract the attention of scholars as well as the world. Many documents recovered from the caves have remained intact since around 300 BCE, among them several copies of the Hebrew Bible. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in eleven caves on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. Wed. They were discovered in an area approximately 21 kilometers east of Jerusalem. Scholars have identified the remains of approximately 825 separate scrolls. It is the oldest group of Old Testament manuscripts ever discovered. The Dead Sea Scrolls are divided into two categories, biblical and non-biblical. The Dead Sea Scrolls give us a glimpse into the past and help us discover and understand the roots of Judaism and Christianity. When the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, many scholars saw a relationship between the Dead Sea Scrolls and Paulinus' belief...... middle of paper ...... all over the country , due to the fact that there were also major manuscripts. differences between the two writings.Works CitedBenoit, Pierre, Joseph A. Fritzmyer, Joachim Gnilka, Mathias Delcor, Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, Karl Georg Kuhn, Joseph Coppens, Franz Mussner and Walter Grundmann. Paul and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Ed. J. Murphy-O'Connor and James H. Charlesworth. New York: Crossroad, 1990. Print. Freedman, David Noel. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Flight. 2. New Haven, Conn.; London: Yale UP, 2008. Print. Freedman, David Noel. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Flight. 5. New Haven, Conn.; London: Yale UP, 2008. Print.Irons, Lee. “Paul and the Dead Sea Scrolls.” Web log publication. The upper register. Lee Irons, August 1, 2010. Web. February 11, 2011. .The New American Bible. Kansas: Catholic Bible Publishers, 2001. Print.