In the late 1940s, perhaps the greatest archeological find of modern times occurred when Bedouin shepherds unearthed mysterious scrolls in a cave near the Dead Sea, just south of Jerusalem. These documents turned out to be manuscripts-some of them biblical-reflecting the beliefs of a vanished Jewish sect that fled Jerusalem during the time of Christ. But what was the connection between the documents and the ruins of an abandoned nearby settlement known as Qumran? Like some holy, historical cross between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Da Vinci Code, LIFE's book follows the race to unearth-and decode-the many other manuscripts hidden in the desert caves.