Damascus Document, 1st century BCE
The Damascus Document contains two major parts- a hortatory section and a legal section. The first part exhorts the congregation to remain faithful to the new covenantal community established in the “Land of Damascus.” Scholarly opinion is divided about the meaning of “Damascus,” which could either refer to the Syrian city, or symbolize a place of exile. The legal section lists the statutes and rules for life in the community, and the regulations for the rituals, purification rites, and worship of the community.
Paleographically, this fragment is the earliest of the eight fragments of the Damascus Document uncovered in Cave 4, and can be dated to the late first century BCE.
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