Emily Chan
In 1952, the Copper Scroll was discovered in a cave at the site of Qumran, which is located near the Dead Sea.
It was part of a collection of scrolls from the cave called the Dead Scrolls. However, the Copper Scroll was unique from the Dead Scrolls, which were made of papyrus.
When researchers unrolled and deciphered the text in the Copper Scroll, they realized that it contained clues to valuable treasures hidden throughout the Judean desert.
There were directions to 64 locations where riches were buried, and 63 of them referred to treasures of gold and silver.
The total haul of precious goods listed on the scroll is worth somewhere around a billion dollars. The contents of the Copper Scroll indicate that the treasures belonged to a Jewish temple.
Some experts claim that it was actually the property of the First Temple of ancient Jerusalem, which was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, in 586 B.C.
But the scroll has been dated back to sometime between A.D. 25 and A.D. 100 so that theory is unlikely.
Others think the text may have been alluding to the Second Temple, but historical records show that the treasure was still in the temple when it fell to the Romans.
The language of the Copper Scroll connects it to a Jewish context. When considering the proximity of the hiding spots to Jerusalem, it makes sense to think that the Jerusalem Temple could be where the scroll originated.
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