Genesis Apocryphon

The Genesis Apocryphon, originally called the Apocalypse of Lamech and labeled 1QapGen, is one of the original seven Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in Cave 1 near Qumran, a city in the Northwest corner of the Dead Sea. Composed in Aramaic, this document consists of four sheets of leather, and is the least well preserved document of the original seven. The document records a pseudepigraphal conversation between the biblical figure Lamech, son of Methuselah, and his son, Noah, as well as first and third person narratives associated with Abraham. It is thought to possibly serve as an example of an expanded and rewritten biblical story. A range of compositional dates for the work have been suggested from the 3rd century BCE to 1st century CE. Palaeography and Carbon-14 Dating were used to identify the age of the documents.

This document was discovered in 1946 by Bedouin shepherds. It is one of many non-Biblical texts found in the scrolls. This was written on parchment, which is calf, goat or sheep skin, and each individual section has been sewn together to create the entire scroll. It is 13 inches in length and 2.75 inches in width at its widest point in the middle.

The Genesis Apocryphon was one of the seven major scrolls found at Qumran in Cave 1. It is one of the collection in the Dead Sea Scrolls, which has over 800 documents in fragmentary form. All documents have been found in various states of preservation in twelve caves of the cliffs that parallel the northwest shore the Dead Sea and in the general location of Qumran. The scroll was found in the Spring of 1947 by Bedouin shepherds, after throwing a rock into a cave while looking for their lost sheep.

Along with the Isaiah Scroll, the commentary on Habakkuk, and the Manual of Discipline, this document was sold by the Bedouin who discovered it to Mar Athanasius Yeshue Samuel, the superior at the St. Mark's Monastery in Jerusalem. The four scrolls were transferred from Jerusalem to Syria and to Lebanon under certain political conditions in the area. There were plans made to transfer the scrolls to the United States but permission was later retracted because it was insisted that a high price could be asked for the scrolls if they remained unrolled and unraveled. The four scrolls were then announced for sale in the Wall Street Journal for $250,000 and were purchased by Israel on February 13, 1955. The Genesis Apocryphon joined the Isaiah Scrolls, War Scroll and the Thanksgiving Psalms, which had been purchased from Bedouins by Eleazar Sukenik of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The seven main scrolls found in Cave 1 at Qumran, though found in Palestinian territory at the time, came to be housed in the Shrine of the Book in West Jerusalem.

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