Two incomplete medieval copies of a hitherto unknown narrative were discovered in 1896 among many other discarded manuscripts in an attic storeroom (genizah) of a synagogue in Cairo. Now known as the Damascus Document, it was first published in 1910 (Vermes 1997, 11, n. 29; 125). Its origin was The Essenes, devoted to spirituality in a monastic setting outside mainstream Judaism at Qumran in the final centuries of the first millennium BCE. This document told the story of a previously unknown leader and prophet known as the “Teacher of Righteousness” (moreh zedekh). Though his identity remains unknown and details of his life are minimal, he and the Damascus Document are now recognized as exerting a profound influence on Jewish spirituality in Jerusalem and among the many dispersed Jewish communities around the Mediterranean. However, because the document was not known for two millennia, its place in history has remained a mystery.

Half a century later the Teacher of Righteousness rose to new prominence among Jewish scholars. Beginning in 1947, a treasure trove of manuscripts was discovered in nearly inaccessible caves above the Dead Sea. The story of their discovery by a Bedouin goat herder reads like dramatic fiction. Leading his sheep along a rarely used trail he casually threw a stone into a dark cave and heard the distinctive sound of it hitting pottery. Returning later, he and a friend made the initial discovery of tall clay jars containing parchment scrolls in what has been designated Cave 1 (Dupont-Sommer 1952, 9–13; Dimont 1962, 133–34). Over the next few years 11 caves, dozens of jars, and numerous hidden scrolls were discovered. Manuscripts numbered in the hundreds, fragments in the thousands. Hebrew copies of every Old Testament book except Esther were found, some in multiple copies. Among these, now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, numerous manuscripts specific to the Essenic sect were discovered, including ten more copies of the Damascus Document, establishing it as perhaps the central narrative of the Essenic community. Taken together, they comprised a considerably more complete narrative than the 1896–97 fragments from Cairo.

Archaeological work at Qumran (1951–56) has uncovered coins establishing occupation dates of 150 BCE to 68 CE. Carbon 14 dating brought further clarification: “the general scholarly view today places the Qumran Scrolls roughly between 200 BCE and 70 CE” (Vermes 1997, 13, 125).