Dead Sea Scrolls: The Doomsday Prophecy (2020) - full transcript

Narrator: 2,000 years ago,

The mountain fortress of masada

Witnesses the final battle
of an apocalyptic war...

♪

...Between the jews of judea
and the roman empire.

Once they were faced
with the romans,

It was life or death.

Narrator: A few hundred rebels

Defy the mightiest empire
of the ancient world.

It's gonna take you out

Whether it's a killing blow
or not.



♪

Narrator: Is the war foretold
in these mysterious texts

From the time of christ?

The dead sea scrolls.

What was in those caves

Was the greatest archaeological
discovery of the 20th century.

Narrator: Today, revolutionary
findings in a tunnel

Deep beneath jerusalem

Revealed the deadly secrets
of these cataclysmic events.

The romans destroyed jerusalem
down to its foundations.

Narrator: Who are the people
defying the will of rome?

What truth is contained
in their scrolls'

Doomsday prophecy?

To solve these mysteries, we'll
venture deep into desert caves,



Reconstruct a king's
mountain lair,

And unearth new evidence
of an epic conflict

To reveal the dark secrets
of the dead sea scrolls.

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

This is masada
in modern day israel,

A magnificent royal palace
perched 1,500 feet

Above the shores
of the dead sea.

The palace was built
in the first century b.C.

By the king of judea,

Herod the great.

What we have here is not
only palace, palatial fortress,

But it's actually a villa
in the middle of nowhere.

Narrator: Masada is
an extraordinary

Mountain top mega structure.

A hanging palace
sits inside the fortress.

It is constructed
on three terraces above cliffs

Nearly 1,500 feet high.

It houses a barracks and armory.

Even a centrally
heated bathhouse.

♪

The palace is testament

To the huge ambitions
of its ruler...

Herod.

♪

And buried within the palace,

Texts of strange holy jewish
verse written in hebrew

Dating back 2,000 years.

Secret documents
left by a mysterious people

Who write a terrifying prophecy

Of a coming apocalyptic war.

Dr. Guy stiebel
from tel aviv university,

Investigates the secrets
of herod's palace.

He wants to uncover the meaning
of the doomsday prophecy

And what it foretells of
a cataclysmic event at masada.

The fact that we have here
a remnant few scrolls

That ended up here at masada,

We can correlate it
with archaeological find

That shed new light
on our understanding.

♪

Narrator: The year is 73 a.D.

Herod has now been dead
for seven decades.

Masada is no longer
a royal palace.

It's in the hands of jewish
rebels holding out

Against the most powerful

Fighting force
in the ancient world...

The roman army.

What causes this
extraordinary transformation?

And what is the truth
behind this mysterious prophecy?

Guy believes clues lie

With an astonishing engineering
achievement that allows herod

To spend as long as he wants
in his mountain fortress.

Herod's palace has
an extraordinary water supply

Built into the belly
of the mountain.

Cut deep into the rocks
are 12 mighty cisterns,

Each the size of a house.

An aqueduct feeds the cisterns
with floodwater

Collected
during the winter rains.

The aqueduct is covered
by a waterproof render.

The cisterns can hold 10 million
gallons of water in total.

They fill herod's luxurious
baths and swimming pools,

Providing him with an almost
never ending source of water.

♪

King herod the great did it
in a very grand and lavish way

Building here, five palaces.

Just imagine, three bathhouses.

Even the swimming pool
on top of masada.

♪

Narrator: Guy wants to know if
strange finds within the palace

Are connected
to this engineering marvel.

And help explain
what happens here

To turn history on its head.

You need to look for something

That looked like a mikvah,
an immersion pool.

Narrator: A mikvah,
a jewish immersion pool

Is used to achieve ritual purity
vital before worshiping god.

♪

In the center of the ruins,

Guy examines a mysterious
stepped structure.

Stiebel: What we can see
is a huge mikvah for here.

We have the steps that can
allow me going all the way down.

Narrator: Guy believes these
ritual baths are evidence

That the rebels belonged to
a strict jewish religious sect.

But who are these rebels
and how are they connected

To the prophecy
of a coming apocalyptic war?

Clues may lie
just a few miles away.

♪

This is the dead sea.
The lowest point on earth.

♪

Here in 1946,

A local bedouin makes
an extraordinary discovery.

It will transform
our understanding

Of what happens at masada.

He was looking for a lost goat

When he came to the entrance
to a cave.

He decided to throw a stone
into the cave

To see if he could
flush out the goat.

Narrator: Instead of hearing
the stone hit rock,

He hears it smash pottery.

He enters the cave
to investigate.

What was in those caves
was the greatest

Archaeological discovery
of the 20th century.

♪

Narrator: Hidden behind
a narrow entrance,

Lies strangely shaped
ceramic jars.

Curled up inside
are ancient treasures,

Delicate scrolls
of hebrew writing.

Some date from 200 years
before jesus.

Others are written
during his lifetime.

One of them is over 20 feet long
and contains

Almost the entire book of isaiah
from the old testament.

These battered parchments

Become known
as the dead sea scrolls,

The oldest biblical texts
in the world.

♪

Today, the dead sea scrolls
are here

In the shrine of the book
at the israel museum.

Almost one million people visit
this museum to see the scrolls

Each year.

The giant isaiah scroll
has a place of honor.

Can clues to solve the mystery

Of what happens at masada
be found here?

Pnina shor from the israel
antiquities authority

Is the curator
of the dead sea scrolls.

Shor: This is a sample of one
of the big scrolls.

We have five of them
really well preserved.

Narrator:
The scrolls are 1,000 years

Older than any other existing
biblical text.

Shor: The first seven scrolls
that were found

Were in a very good condition.

And the reason for that
is that they were found in jars,

Wrapped in linen,

And therefore,
this is what preserved them.

Narrator:
The almost perfect conditions

Inside the desert caves

Also helped the scrolls
to survive 2,000 years.

Today, pnina and her team

Are deciphering every last word
and mark on them.

They make surprising
new discoveries.

We're now going through material

That has not been deciphered yet

Because we couldn't see any of
the ink on these fragments

And we are discovering
new fragments.

Narrator:
They photograph the scrolls

With a special camera
developed by nasa.

It allows them to analyze

The parchment under different
light conditions.

Sacred words lost
for centuries emerge

When they combine the images.

Can you please show me
from both sides?

Narrator: Today, 70 years
after their discovery,

The scrolls are still
giving up new secrets.

Here.

Yeah, as you can see,
this is pretty clear.

Narrator: This fragment
reveals a word missing

From a biblical scroll.

It's the word israel.

- Ah, israel?
- Yeah.

Narrator: The scrolls
are the greatest

Biblical treasures of all time.

It shows us
how a minute fragment

Can actually help
biblical studies

And biblical research today.

Narrator: But who wrote these
mysterious scrolls?

And what do they reveal
of the mysterious prophecy

Of an apocalyptic battle
at masada?

The discovery of the scrolls
raised a number of questions.

Who wrote the scrolls?
Where were they brought from?

Why were they deposited
in the caves?

It was only further
archaeological exploration

Of this area that is excavating
more of the archeological sites

That we would be able
to answer those questions.

Narrator: Archaeologists
discover more caves

And more scrolls
along the dead sea.

One cave is a treasure trove
of intriguing clues.

Magness: This is the opening
to cave 11.

This cave, typical of the caves
in the limestone cliffs

Along the shore of the dead sea
is a natural cave,

Which is very rugged.

Narrator: Here, explorers find
traditional biblical scrolls,

But also discover ancient texts
that never make the bible,

Including a scroll
predicting a violent cataclysm.

One of the scrolls
that was found here

Is a copy of the war scroll,

Which describes the apocalyptic
war at the end of days

Between the sons of light
and the sons of darkness.

Narrator:
Does this doomsday prophecy

Explain why jewish rebels

Hold masada against
the mast ranks of romans?

And what does it foretell
of an apocalyptic war

Between the forces of good

And the forces of evil?

♪

♪

Narrator: The dead sea, israel.

2,000 years ago

A mysterious people
hide their holiest documents,

Ancient biblical texts
on its shores.

The scrolls are never retrieved.

Does a doomsday prophecy
found in a text

Called the war scroll
help explain why?

To find out,
investigators first need

To identify the writers
of the scrolls.

♪

They believe clues
can be found in caves

Along the dead sea.

The remains of approximately
1,000 different scrolls

Were found in 11 caves
in this area.

Narrator: A cave a half mile

From where the scrolls
are first discovered

Proves to be
the richest of them all.

♪

Inside it,

The earliest copy of the 10
commandments in existence.

And around it,
15,000 scattered fragments

Of more than 600 scrolls.

Some can be assembled
and deciphered

Like the first three chapters
of the book of genesis.

♪

Others have crumbled into pieces

So small they still
elude descriptions.

Could they hold clues to who
writes the dead sea scrolls

And their prophecy
of apocalyptic doom?

♪

Dr. Eshbal ratzon from haifa
and ariel universities,

Is part of an international team

Racing to decipher
two fragmented scrolls.

♪

She's working on 66 mysterious
pieces that could contain clues

To identify the writers
of the scrolls.

Ratzon: My work is
working with puzzles.

This particular puzzle gives us
a glimpse into a document

That was preserved
for 2,000 years in the desert.

Narrator: Pioneering ultra
high-resolution photography

Means eshbal
can now read the words

Of even the tiniest
scroll fragments.

She moves the pieces around
on her computer screen

To try to put them
back together.

It's a 2,000-year-old
electronic jigsaw puzzle.

We got lucky because we got
most of the fragments

From the edges of the puzzle.

Narrator: Eshbal discovers that
the writer of this scroll

Is leaving mysterious notes
between the columns.

I just had a hunch that these
two notes were connected.

Maybe just the scribe just ran
out of space and he turned.

So it was able to join
these bunch of fragments

With these bunch fragments.

I got a whole column
from margin to margin.

Narrator:
This pioneering technology

And eshbal's intuition leads
to a vital breakthrough,

Revealing that the scroll
one of the last to be deciphered

Is a religious calendar.

Ratzon:
It's a very unique calendar.

We don't know it from elsewhere

Except from
the dead sea scrolls.

Narrator:
This calendar is a clue

That can reveal
who writes the scrolls.

♪

The ruling jewish priests
in the temple of jerusalem

Follow a lunar calendar
with 354 days and a year.

♪

On the new moon, high priests

Make offerings of fruit
and grains

And sacrifice animals
to please their god.

♪

The writers of the scrolls
reject these offerings

And instead become obsessed
with purification,

Immersing in cold water
at least twice a day.

♪

They decide to follow
their own calendar with 364 days

In a year based
on the movement of the sun.

♪

Ratzon: This was a huge step.

It made this sect separate from
the rest of the jewish groups.

♪

Narrator: With the calendar,
eshbal can solve the puzzle

Of who wrote
the dead sea scrolls.

The group that is associated
with these calendar refers

To themselves in other
dead sea scrolls as the yahad

Or the sons of righteousness
or the sons of light.

Narrator:
But who are the sons of light?

And what happens to them?

♪

2,000 years ago, the sect,

Just like the very first
christians

Believe the world
is about to end.

They prepare for a conflict
at the end of days

And preach about
the coming apocalypse.

They outline this doomsday
prophecy in a text

Known as the war scroll.

And now it looks like
their prediction is coming true.

♪

The people of judea
are on the brink

Of an uprising
against their roman masters,

One that will culminate
in a final battle

At herod's
one time palace, masada.

What causes this huge revolt?

♪

Can clues be found 70 miles away

On the mediterranean coast
of israel?

♪

Is this jewish revolt

The prophesied battle
between the sons of light

And the sons of darkness?

♪

♪

Narrator: The dead sea scrolls

Hundreds of sacred texts
dating to the time of christ.

Today, new technology
is deciphering

The last of the scrolls,

Proving they belong
to a mysterious jewish sect...

The sons of light.

One of their texts,
the war scroll,

Prophesizes
an apocalyptic showdown

Between the forces
of good and evil.

Is a final battle at masada
that conflict?

♪

Clues may be found here 70 miles

From where the scrolls
are discovered.

This is the city of caesarea
on israel's mediterranean coast.

It is built by king herod
in the first century b.C.

Herod named the city's caesarea
in honor of his imperial master,

Caesar augustus.

Today, this ancient port city

Is one of the largest
archaeological sites in israel.

Peter gendleman from
the israel antiquities authority

Excavates a part of the city.

♪

You see the new piece
from the temple.

Look, you see
it's only small portion,

Let's say a tenth
of the original days.

Narrator: His dig unearthed
the remains of a temple.

Look how big...
[ speaks indistinctly ]

So it's originally,

It was more or less that big.

Narrator: The size of the base
tells peter the original column

Must be huge compared with
any other column on the site.

It's one of the largest columns
that was found in caesarea.

And the temple itself,

It's one of the largest
that was built in this area.

♪

Narrator: This is only one
among many

Imperial roman buildings here.

During the first century a.D.,

The roman empire takes judea
under direct rule.

This vast city becomes its base.

Peter's excavation reveals
how much the romans invest

In their new headquarters.

It's remains of the floor
made of roman concrete

With imported with
volcanic material

Brought from the napoli bay.

Narrator: The romans import
the ingredients

For this concrete
from as far away as Italy

And bring the know how
to use it.

Let's try to put it together
and see footprints

Still be seen on the top of it.

It's a footprint of special
kind of boots

That was used
by roman legionnaires.

So clearly evidence
of the new technologies

That come with the roman
to the east.

♪

Narrator: The scale
of the roman occupation

Can be seen at caesarea.

Here, the romans build
on a grand scale.

Just like in rome, where
the empire shows off its wealth

And power
with lavish public buildings.

But peter thinks
not all the buildings

Are for roman citizens.

He investigates the ruins
of a mysterious structure.

Can see it was
a sizable building.

Very good masonry, not look
like private dwelling,

But most like
some public building.

Narrator: Peter believes
this is one of the main

Synagogues of the city.

All this area probably
was inhabited by jews.

Narrator: It shows caesarea is
a multi-cultural metropolis

Where each group can worship
their own gods.

But peter thinks the jewish
population resent being treated

As second class citizens
by the romans.

There was start some struggle
between the jewish community

And the romans in the city.

They want to be equal
roman citizens.

Narrator: Jewish resentment
turns to violence.

In 66 a.D.,
the caesarean jews riot.

The romans will not
tolerate that.

It's finished by killing
of most of caesarean jews

And rest was expelled
from the city

For more than generation.

♪

Narrator: The romans rule their
vast empire with an iron fist.

And following the events
in caesarea

The province of judea
becomes a hotbed of dissent,

Jewish rebels wipe out
the roman garrison in jerusalem

And declare
an independent jewish state.

♪

The revolt spreads
like wildfire.

So the romans send 60,000
troops to crush the rebellion.

♪

They rampaged through judea,

Slaughtering hundreds
of thousands of people.

♪

Is this the war between good
and evil foretold

In the dead sea scrolls
prophecy?

What clues are revealed
by another strange discovery

Alongside the dead sea?

♪

♪

Narrator: A brutal war rages
between the jews of judea

And the roman empire.

Does a doomsday prophecy
and one of the dead sea scrolls

Predict the final outcome
of this war?

Clues may lie here.

Next to the cave,
where most scrolls are found

Are the ruins of an unusual
walled settlement.

It's called qumran.

Beside it, row upon row of
mysterious stone mounds.

♪

Beneath the mounds,

Archaeologists unearth
more than 70 skeletons,

Each buried in
the same distinctive way.

The bodies lie all alone
in six-foot deep pits

Without any grave goods.

All lie on their backs
with their hands

Resting on their hips.

And their heads pointing south

Towards the scorching
midday sun.

Are these the sons of light,

The authors of the dead
sea scrolls prophecy?

♪

There are graves all over here.

Here, look,
look at this structure here.

Yossi nagar from
the israel antiquities authority

Investigates these newly
discovered skeletons.

He excavates 33 of the graves.

Nagar: I've found no children
and no women.

Only males.

So I say, okay, that's weird.

Narrator: Is this mass burial
a military cemetery?

Are the soldiers
of the sons of light

Fighting in the jewish revolt?

A clue may lie
in the age of the men.

Most of the soldiers
are from the same age group.

There are people around 18,

20, mostly maybe 30.

Narrator: Yossi examines
the skeletons, teeth,

And vertebrae to discover
the age of the men

When they died.

The people that were
buried here,

The average age of death
is much higher

Than the regular cemetery
or a regular village.

Narrator: The age range of
the men is between 20 and 50.

It's unlikely
that they're rebel soldiers.

But is there another connection

Between the men buried here
and the doomsday prophecy?

Yossi investigates
if they were alive

When the scrolls were hidden
in the first century a.D.

For me, it's great.

I'm an anthropologist
I only look on the bones,

But the archaeologists want
to know from which period it is

And it's hard to tell the date

When there are
no artifacts inside.

You can only guess
so we must take a bone sample

For carbon dating.

That's a good way
of telling the age of samples.

♪

Narrator: Jewish respect
for human remains

Means all the skeletons
are reburied

Except for this one thigh bone.

Professor elisabetta boaretto
of the weizmann institute

Of science extracts samples
from the bones.

She uses radiocarbon technology

To date the human remains
from qumran

For the first time.

To calculate the date,

She needs to extract
a substance from the bone

That is once
living tissue... collagen.

Collagen is a protein which is
very important for the bones

To be elastic and a live tissue.

Narrator: But the bones from
qumran are very degraded.

There is almost none
of the vital collagen.

Normally, you would give up
about these bones,

And just say nothing to do.

Narrator:
Elisabetta has pioneered

A groundbreaking technique

To extract dissolved collagen.

Boaretto: Hopefully, we will
get the date out of this.

Narrator:
The tiny samples of collagen

Will be reduced to raw carbon.

If this is successful,

It'll allow her to calculate
a date for the bone.

♪

Here we are. Wow.
It's first century a.D.

That's really what...
What we expected for qumran

But now we have an real data
for this person

Because so you see, it covered
the first century a.D.

- Mm-hmm.
- Fantastic.

Narrator: The test reveals
that this bone

Is almost 2,000 years old.

The men date to the time
the scrolls are written.

Finding these
first century a.D. Data

Is super important.

Narrator: They are buried next
to the caves

Where the scrolls
are discovered.

Are they the writers
of the dead sea scrolls,

The authors
of its doomsday prophecy?

Can discoveries here throw light
on an apocalyptic battle

Between jewish rebels
and the roman army

At herod's palace masada?

Are further clues revealed
by a unique discovery

In the holiest city in judea...

Jerusalem.

♪

♪

Narrator: Qumran on
the dead sea, israel.

The site lies next to
a mysterious all-male cemetery

Where the skeletons align
with the midday sun.

We have no other site
like qumran anywhere.

It is a unique
archaeological site.

Narrator: Archaeologist
jodi magness

Is from the university
of north carolina.

She searches qumran
for evidence that this area

Might be the home
of the sons of light,

The authors of the dead sea
scrolls doomsday prophecy.

Based on the information
that we have in the scrolls,

What we would expect to find
at qumran is a settlement

That is not an ordinary town
or a village,

But rather is
a community center.

Narrator: Jodi wants to make
a connection between qumran

And the strict religious rules
followed by the sons of light.

She starts with something
used by all observant jews...

A mikvah or ritual bath.

Right behind me is a jewish
ritual bath

Where jews would immerse

In order to ritually
purify themselves in the water.

♪

Sometimes you also
see partitions

Running down the length
of the steps

Which symbolically separate
the impure from the pure meaning

That someone would go down
one side of the steps,

Impure, immersed in the water,

And come back up
on the other side, purified.

Narrator: The many large ritual
baths at qumran is evidence

That people living here follow
the strictest religious rules.

♪

The god of israel demanded
that everyone in his presence

Be ritually pure,

And so even jesus and paul,
for example,

Before entering
the jerusalem temple,

Would've ritually immerse
themselves in a pool like this.

Narrator:
We know from the scrolls

That the sons of light
must ritually bathe twice a day.

Qumran has 10 ritual baths.

♪

The scrolls say
that the sons of light

Must always gather at meal
times to eat together.

So this room is the largest
room in the qumran settlement.

In a room adjacent to it,

A pantry of dishes
with over a thousand

Dining dishes was found.

This large room also apparently

Was used as
a communal dining room.

Narrator:
Qumran has all the facilities

Required by the strict
religious laws of the sect.

And jodi has evidence qumran
is where the sect wrote

Some of the dead sea scrolls.

It's been identified as
a scriptorium or writing room.

At the second story level
of this room,

Originally there was furniture
and mixed in with the debris

Of this furniture were inkwells.

♪

Narrator:
From the evidence found here,

Jodi has no doubt
that qumran is the home

Of the sons of light,

The authors of the dead sea
scrolls prophecy.

History also has another name
for the sect.

We do have sources
that tell us who this sect was.

All of these sources
talk about a jewish sect

That lived on the northwest
shore of the dead sea

In the area
where qumran is located

Called the essenes.

Narrator: Ancient sources tell
the story of the essenes.

♪

The essenes hail from jerusalem,

But so detest
its religious rulers

That they abandoned the city.

♪

They build a community
near the dead sea

Where they can worship
in their own way.

♪

Obsessed with writing,

Copying,
and collecting scripture,

They have someone reading
the bible

Every minute of the day.

♪

They write the rules
of the community on scrolls

And store them alongside
copies of their holy scriptures.

♪

In the time of jesus,

We know that there were many
different jewish groups,

Movements, and sects.

So the essenes were
part of this mosaic

Of different jewish groups
and movements.

♪

Narrator: The essenes,
the sons of light,

Prepare for the apocalypse

Their dead sea scrolls
prophecy foretells

As the romans
stormed through judea

A brutally reasserting
imperial control.

They quickly get to qumran.

In the middle of the revolt
in the year 68 a.D.,

The site of qumran
was destroyed.

The excavations revealed
roman arrowheads.

Now, could it be that
the scenes here at qumran

Thought that this was,

In fact, this apocalypse
that they were awaiting?

Narrator: Is this
the essenes's doomsday?

Jodi searches caves
near qumran for answers.

♪

Magness: K4 is the one cave

That yielded
the lion's share of the scrolls.

We have the remains
of approximately 600

To 700 different scrolls.

Now, unlike in some of the other
caves, the scrolls and k4

Were in a very poor state
of preservation.

They had disintegrated

Into tens of thousands
of little fragments.

Narrator: The condition of
the scrolls left here are clues

They are left in a hurry.

♪

I believe that there
can be little doubt

That at least some
of the scrolls were deposited

In the cave for safekeeping

On the eve of the roman
destruction of the settlement

In the year 68 a.D.

Narrator: It's evidence of
a last minute flight

From the roman destruction
of qumran.

The essenes
escape their doomsday.

Where do they go?

Just 20 miles west of qumran
is jerusalem.

Clues to this mystery
could lie here.

[ church bells ringing ]

Jerusalem is the most holy city

In the roman province of judea.

It is also the original home
of the essenes.

This is an area of jerusalem
called mount zion.

♪

Dr. Rafi lewis is from
the ashkelon academic college.

He and a team from
the university of north carolina

At charlotte
excavate a site here.

They unearth buildings inhabited

At the time
of the jewish revolt.

Lewis: Excavating in jerusalem
is fascinating.

It's a very complicated
city today

And it was also a very
complicated city in the past,

Specifically in the site where
I'm excavating the over

2,800 years of occupation.

We have many different
religions, many cultures,

Many different ideas.

Narrator:
Rafi's excavations reveal

Evidence of a wealthy home.

His dig unearthed
some extraordinary rooms

That are sealed 2,000 years ago

At the time
of the jewish revolt.

This is probably a blocked
window that if we open it,

We'll be able
to enter another room

Which belonged to this house.

Now, this is quite exciting

When we're thinking
about the period

With many interesting events,

Including the hiding
of the dead sea scrolls.

♪

Narrator: As the team unearths
the ritual bathing pool

Of the house,

They find a possible link
to the dead sea scrolls.

They extract four fragments
from the rubble.

Parts of a carved limestone cup
used in purification rituals.

♪

Scratched into its surface

Are three types
of mysterious scripts.

One of them is unique
to the dead sea scrolls.

♪

Could this cup
belong to the essenes?

If so, what's it doing in
a city they have long abandoned?

This is one of the most
exciting finds

We've ever made in jerusalem.

It's a stone cup made from
a very soft kind of limestone.

It was handmade.

Can actually still see
the scraping or the chisel marks

In here like the knife
has just made those lines.

Narrator:
Stone cups like this are used

For cleansing the hands
not for drinking.

♪

Ritual cleansing with these cups
is common practice

During the time of the essenes.

But writing inscriptions
on them is not.

♪

Lewis: Out of the 11 lines
of inscription,

We can only make out one line.

This line is basically saying...
[ speaking foreign language ]

"I returned
to the house of the lord."

Narrator: Can this be
an essenes inscription?

Is the cup evidence

That the essenes flee
the destruction of qumran

And returned to their
original home, jerusalem?

Lewis: It might be holding
an answer for us.

He comes back to the house
of the lord.

He's very excited about it.

He picks up the first thing
that comes into his hand,

And that's his stone cup.

He's writing the script,

"I return to the house
of the lord."

Narrator:
It's an intriguing discovery.

Lewis: There is a possibility
that this was actually made

By someone who came back to
jerusalem after being in qumran.

Nothing like this was
ever found in jerusalem.

♪

Narrator:
The cup suggests to rafi

That at least some essenes
make it back to jerusalem...

♪

...And escape their own prophecy
of a coming apocalypse.

♪

But are the essenes safe here
or will jerusalem

Be the scene
of the final apocalypse?

♪

Can further clues be found
in an underground tunnel

Deep beneath jerusalem?

♪

♪

Narrator:
A jewish religious sect,

The essenes, escaped the roman
destruction of their home

Qumran by the dead sea

And flee to the holy city
of jerusalem.

Their own doomsday scroll
prophesizes a final battle

Between the forces
of good and evil.

♪

70 a.D.... After four years
of the jewish revolt,

The roman army turns its sights
on the rebel capital, jerusalem.

♪

Under the streets of the city,

Dark secrets of jerusalem's
past are being unearthed.

This is one of the world's
most ambitious

Archeological projects.

We're beneath the streets
of jerusalem

And we're excavating this window

In order to expose
not the modern streets,

But the ancient streets

And the elements
that were alongside it.

Narrator: Joe uziel from
the israel antiquities authority

And a team of engineers
and archaeologists

Are burrowing beneath the city.

Each time we dig in
about a meter

And this way we can follow

The layer across
the entire area.

But peeling it away,

Sort of like a salami
one meter at a time.

Narrator: Joe and his team use
advanced structural engineering

To allow an excavation
many feet below the surface.

We have to make sure
that we're not doing anything

That can damage

Or upset the existing framework
above our heads.

And so, alongside us,
a team of engineers follows

And makes sure that we're
putting in the right supports,

Making sure that no structural
damage occurs

To what's above our heads.

Narrator: Today,
modern jerusalem bustles

On top of layers
of ancient occupation.

Between those layers are clues
to the fate of the authors

Of the dead sea scrolls
doomsday prophecy.

So we're walking now
on the original pavement

Built here some 2,000 years ago.

The pavement,
which was part of the street

That led up to the temple mound.

Narrator: Joe's excavations
have revealed

The main processional route
to jerusalem's iconic temple.

♪

Now I'm standing along
the edge of the street,

Which separates the street
from the buildings alongside

Of it here, if I walk just
a little bit further down,

I have an opening
into a building

Which stood along the side
of the street

And would have had its entrance
way onto the street.

♪

Narrator: When joe and his team
excavate here,

They make shocking discoveries.

Joe believes these finds
may explain the fate

Of any essenes
that seek sanctuary in jerusalem

And reveal why this street
is buried on a single day

In 70 a.D.

We know that the romans
destroyed jerusalem

Down to its foundations.

They don't just burn down
one point here, one point there.

They tear down its temple.

They knocked down part
of the temple mount walls.

They tear down the bridges
leading to the temple.

They rip apart the streets

And they burn the city
to a ground.

Narrator: Joe uncovers
a destruction layer of burning

And smashed buildings.

So what we have
in our excavations

Are basically the street,
which is built in 30 a.D.

And then the days
of the destruction

With the thick destruction layer
and above that,

The collapse of the buildings

Which stood alongside the street
and covered it over.

Narrator:
Within the destruction layer,

Joe discovers physical evidence
of the deadly force

Unleashed by the romans.

This stone which I'm holding,
which is part of a ballista,

Basically a very,
very large sling stone,

Which would have been shot
using maybe a catapult.

It's been broken.

So it would have been
roughly the size of

Maybe a small basketball,

A stone so large
could have easily done damage

To a building,
let alone a person.

Narrator: Is the destruction
of jerusalem,

The cataclysm prophesied
in the doomsday scroll?

♪

The destruction of jerusalem

Is the bloodiest event
of the jewish revolt.

♪

20,000 roman soldiers
surround the city

Which is packed with
over a million people.

♪

To conquer the city's
mighty walls,

The romans release
the full power

Of their awesome war machine.

♪

Bit by bit,
they conquered jerusalem.

They kill everyone in their path
and ransack every building.

♪

Many jews, including essenes
take refuge in the temple.

But the romans
simply burn it down.

Jerusalem becomes a death trap.

Uziel: At this point in time,

The roman army is the most
powerful army in the world.

They're saying you misbehaved
and if you misbehave,

This is what happens
if you're in the roman empire.

We wipe you away.

Narrator: But more finds
unearthed by the excavation

Indicate that for some of
the jews trapped in jerusalem,

There is a chance of survival.

♪

Hidden beneath
the ancient street

Is a narrow sewer tunnel

That leads from the temple
to the edge of the city.

♪

In here, archaeologists
find a golden bell

Like the ones high priest
use at the temple

And further along
a half shekels silver coin

That dates back
to the time of the revolt

Evidence some rebels
tried to escape

From the violence
in the streets above.

But a roman sword
found in the tunnel

May mean that some jews
had to fight their way out.

♪

These tunnels may be
an escape route

For the authors of
the dead sea scrolls prophecy.

Some of them succeeded
escaping jerusalem

And some would have
even fled towards the desert,

But others found their fate
in these tunnels.

Narrator: The roman destruction
of jerusalem is total.

♪

Today, little remains

Only a portion
of the temple's western wall

Survives bearing witness
to this day.

♪

So what is the fate
of the essenes,

As the authors of the scrolls
doomsday prophecy?

Their headquarters, qumran,
has been destroyed.

♪

And their home city,
jerusalem, razed to the ground.

♪

The discovery of more scrolls
at masada

Indicates that at least
some essenes make it here

In a dramatic escape,

Bringing a few precious
scrolls with them.

♪

Does the discovery
of dead sea scrolls

Here mean that the prophecy
of a final battle

Between the forces of light
and darkness comes true?

Not in jerusalem, but at
herod's mountain fortress.

♪

♪

Narrator: The dead sea scrolls
hidden in desert caves

Since the time
of the jewish revolt.

One of the scrolls contains
a terrifying prophecy

Of an apocalyptic battle between
the forces of light and darkness

That will mark the end times.

Where will that
battle be fought?

♪

Masada is once
the mountaintop palace

Of king herod.

Historical accounts from
the time of the roman war

Report that the palaces held
by violent jewish extremists.

♪

They are called the sicarii.

♪

The sicarii or jewish assassins

Who take their name
from the sica,

A deadly dagger
they hide in their cloaks.

♪

They're notorious for killing
roman occupiers in public places

And vanishing into the crowd.

[ distant screaming ]

At the start
of the jewish revolt,

Sicarii rebels capture herod's
palace from the romans.

[ screaming ]

♪

From their desert hideout,
they can survive in safety

While the romans devastate
the rest of judea.

♪

Dr. Guy stiebel
from tel aviv university

Investigates who else occupies
this vast fortress

During the revolt
against the romans.

♪

I'm sure that the sicarii,

You were the most dominant
group here at masada,

But they were not the only one.

Narrator: Guy believes that
ordinary jews from across judea

Are also seeking refuge
in this mountaintop fortress.

Actually,
I'm really thrilled because

We just pick out of the ground,
a beautiful discovery.

What we have here
is what we call a cabochon,

The gemstone, for me,
this is a truly big story.

Narrator: This tiny gemstone
is only partially cut.

This means that the owner
hasn't had time

To finish working on it.

Imagine the romans
are out there.

You need to leave your home.

What do you take along?

The jewelry is something that is
small enough to be carried

In your pocket or in your purse.

Narrator: Guy wants to know
if the essenes,

The authors of the dead sea
scrolls prophecy,

Are also here at masada.

When archaeologists
excavate this site,

They make an astonishing
discovery.

♪

Buried within the ruins
of masada's perimeter wall,

Archaeologists discover
fragments of ancient scrolls.

One of them is a copy
of holy verse

Only ever seen
in the dead sea scrolls

Called songs
of the sabbath sacrifice.

A clue the essenes
are also here at masada

Taking refuge
in king herod's old palace...

♪

...Seeking sanctuary
in the one place in judea

Yet to fall
to the roman reconquest.

♪

Guy hunts for more
traces of the essenes,

He measures a building
that resembles

One of the communal structures
at qumran

Where the dead sea scrolls
are written.

The width of this hole
is identical by the millimeter

To what we have at qumran,

The length is exactly half
the size of what we have there.

For me, this led me
to crack a riddle that

We had about the location of
the essenes here

On top of masada.

Narrator: Guy thinks that this
structure proves some essenes

Are taking refuge at masada

And rebuilding
their community here.

Is masada the location
of the final battle

Between the forces
of good and evil

Foretold in the essenes'
doomsday prophecy?

♪

His team excavates two buildings

Constructed into the wall of
the fortress during the revolt.

It's a coin. It's what we call
quarters or shekels.

From the time of the revolt
on the floor.

Nice.

Narrator: They unearth huge
amounts of everyday artifacts

From the two buildings.

It's basically a one cup
to drink made of glass.

And see, it fits perfectly.

Narrator:
Guy believes identifying

So many household finds proves

That the desperate rebels,
including the essenes,

Are trying to live a normal life
within the walls of masada,

Safe from the romans.

There are many,
many, many artifacts.

And we want to not
only to find them,

But to know exactly
the location of them

Because then you can
actually reconstruct

The activity within the house.

What we call household
archaeology.

♪

Narrator: Masada is
the last place in judea

That is still free
and independent of roman rule.

If you want to find shelter
from the romans,

This was a place to come.

Everyone was accepted
on top of masada.

♪

Narrator:
But how can 1,000 refugees

Survive on top of a mountain
in the desert wilderness?

♪

♪

Narrator: Archeological
discoveries at masada suggest

That hundreds of jews
have taken refuge here,

Fleeing the avenging
roman legions.

They include the essenes,

The authors of the dead sea
scrolls doomsday prophecy.

How long can they hold out here

On top of a mountain
in the desert?

For answers, guy stiebel
examines the innovations

Of the original builder
of this mountain palace...

King herod the great.

100 years before the revolt,

Herod built a water supply
into the mountain...

♪

...Transforming what was once
an arid desert mountain top...

♪

...Into a lavish royal palace

Supplied by 10 million
gallons of water

Enabling people to live
in comfort in this remote spot.

♪

It is one of the engineering
marvels of the ancient world.

♪

By the time of the revolt,

Herod has been dead
for seven decades.

Is his incredible system
still intact,

Allowing the refugees
a chance to survive?

Guy searches the top
of masada for clues.

He investigates a mysterious
aerial photograph

Found in a dusty archive.

This is actually one of
my favorite discoveries.

I'm holding here printouts.

A treasure map, if you wish.

Narrator:
Guy uses the photograph

To look for clues now hidden
by restoration work at masada.

What we discovered here

Is an aerial photograph
of masada.

It was taken,
as is clearly written here,

Masada, 29th of December 1924

At 12:15,

A pilots from squadron 14
of the royal force

Took off from amman in jordan,
flew to over masada

And recorded the site
just before the excavation.

♪

Narrator: Looking carefully
at the image,

Guy identifies two strange
and mysterious dark patches

That no one
had ever noticed before.

What are these bizarre shadows?

In the middle of this split,
actually discover

The black holes
that I was not aware of,

And this led us to excavate here
in the last two years.

Narrator:
Thanks to this photograph,

Guy makes
a completely new discovery.

Stiebel:
Once we start to excavate,

We immediately hit
a water cistern.

Narrator:
His excavation unearths

A water cistern right
at the heart of masada.

Built by herod,

But still in use
at the time of the revolt.

With a cistern actually unable,

The rebels on top of masada

To provides themself
with drinking water.

♪

Narrator:
There is enough water here

To last 1,000 people 10 years.

What is exciting here
is the fact

That we have here story
of survival of the people.

And you need water.

So a water system from the time
of king herod the great

Was reused again by the rebels.

Narrator: But the rebels
also need to eat.

Today, almost nothing
grows here.

Guy's team take soil samples
from the palace for analysis.

Dr. Dafna langgut
from tel aviv university

Examines them.

Dafna looks for evidence
of agriculture at masada.

♪

Pollen is the most durable
organic substance in nature

And it can be preserved
in sediments

For hundreds of thousands
of years.

Narrator:
Ancient pollen in the soil

Will identify plant species.

So basically this grains
are the fingerprints of plants.

For example,

Now I have identified a pollen
grain of cypress tree.

Narrator: These grains reveal
that a huge number of plants

Are grown
on top of the mountain.

We manage to identify pollen
such as olives, grapes,

Sycamores, fig, pomegranate,

And cypress trees as well.

Narrator: Dafna believes herod
originally brings fertile soil

To the top of the mountain

Turning the arid landscape
into a lush, productive garden.

♪

Water is channeled from
the cisterns onto the plateau

To grow grapes,
date palms, and fruit trees.

♪

And the harvest laid out
to dry in the sun

To preserve it.

♪

In the fort's store rooms,

There are reserves of water
and stockpiles of grain

That can be used to bake bread

And dove cuts within the walls

Allow the refugees
to breed birds for food

And harvest fertilizer
for their crops.

♪

Herod builds all this
when it was his palace.

Just imagine that
70 years later,

This was a perfect location

For the rebels
to find asylum in.

♪

Narrator: Discoveries reveal
that rebels,

Refugees, and essenes at masada

Have all the water
and food they need

Giving them a shot at survival.

They try to rebuild
from the broken

Remains of their lives,

They're trying to recreate
something new.

♪

Narrator: But herod's
mountaintop fortress

Is not as safe as the rebels,
refugees, and essenes hope.

Three years after
the destruction of jerusalem,

Masada is the last rebel
stronghold left standing.

But the romans will never cease
until all of judea

Is brought to heel.

In the spring of 73 a.D.,

A roman legion descends
on the mighty fortress.

Stiebel: Seeing the roman scouts
appearing on the horizon

Would be terrifying.

Narrator: No one on top of
masada can be in any doubt

About what is coming.

Stiebel:
This was not the fair game.

You don't mess with the romans.

We're talking about
the most powerful army

In the ancient world.

Narrator: Does the roman March
on masada

Finally signal the arrival
of the apocalypse long foretold

In the essenes dead sea scrolls
doomsday prophecy?

♪

♪

Narrator: The writers of
the dead sea scrolls,

The essenes, hold out at masada.

With them, jewish rebels
and hundreds of refugees

From the roman
reconquest of judea.

The jews have held out here
for three years.

Now 1,500 feet below,
a vast roman army gathers.

♪

But how did the romans lay siege

To a mountain fortress
like masada?

Investigator guy stiebel
and his team look for answers.

♪

They use innovative drone
mapping technology

To capture a complete
3d model of the roman siege.

♪

Their new survey reveals
the assault of masada

In unprecedented detail.

Once the romans decided
to besiege masada

And to send to the desert

Between six to 8,000 soldiers,
they mean business.

- Can you zoom in?
- Yeah, yeah.

Narrator: Guy and his team

Used the results
of the drone survey

To examine
the roman siege system.

It's a very, very steep.

So in a lot of places you
cannot take picture of that.

So what we're doing
is photogrammetry.

Narrator: The drone captures
hundreds of still images

From many different angles.

Afterwards we put it
into the software

And it makes a 3d model.

Narrator: The new technology
allows the archeologist

To survey a virtual model
of the whole site.

- We can see two stages here.
- Indeed.

We have these walls
and that wall

And you can see how steep it is.

Now you can see a difference.
Yeah, yeah.

Having now is 3d
modeling and all the data

Actually allow me
to reconstruct the actual arena,

Where this very important
siege actually took place.

Narrator: Roman siege systems
are built using

A standardized plan
and construction technique,

But guy's survey reveals
that at masada

They use a unique approach.

Stone blocks reveal the remains
of a roman siege fort.

Behind its
six foot perimeter wall,

The romans set up 100 tents
to house their legions.

♪

They assemble
eight of these forts

And build a six-foot
high siege wall to connect them.

♪

12 tall towers along the wall

Allow legionnaires
to keep watch 24/7.

♪

The romans build
a two-mile long wall

That wraps around
the entire mountain,

Locking the rebels inside.

There was no way out
for the rebels whatsoever.

♪

Narrator: The refuge of masada
is now a prison.

♪

From the wrong point of view,

There was like a drill set
in advance

Of what we were going
to do step by step.

This plan a, plan b, and plan c.

Narrator: Each roman camp
is highly organized

And operates
like a miniature settlement.

At the heart of each camp

Lies the commander's tent
and control center,

Military court,
and guard station,

And shrines to worship the gods.

The regular legionnaires
live in stonewalled tents,

Where up to eight men sleep

And eat together
in a tight knit unit.

♪

A legionaries daily duties
include a three-hour guard watch

And rigorous drills
and combat training.

But at masada, they spend
most of their day

Building siege structures
under the baking desert sun.

♪

The rebels have the means

To survive
the roman siege indefinitely.

But the romans are eager
to end the stalemate quickly.

♪

The essenes war scroll
prophesizes a final battle

Between the sons of light
and the sons of darkness.

A battle in which
the sons of light will triumph.

Can the defenders hold out

And scatter the roman army
to the winds

Fulfilling the prophecy

By finally defeating
the ancient world's superpower.

♪

♪

Narrator: The last stronghold
of the jewish rebellion, masada.

In the desert sands below
a huge roman army

Prepares its assault.

The doomsday prophecy
comes to a climax.

♪

The romans are experts
in siege warfare.

But they have never
attempted to storm

Anywhere like herod's palace.

♪

The 8,000 roman soldiers

Besieging masada face
a daunting task.

Steep, slippery inclines
and sheer cliffs

Surround the jewish stronghold.

♪

The rebels have an almost
unlimited supply of water

From huge cisterns inside
and on top of the mountain.

♪

Around the citadel is a tall
double wall

Over six feet thick with
30 towers guarding the approach.

♪

Can the rebels
survive the siege?

Or will the romans finally
extinguish the jewish revolt?

They couldn't use
the classical technique

Of just rolling a battering ram
on top of a tower.

♪

Narrator: The romans must find
a way to overcome

Almost 1,500 feet
of sheer cliff.

Their answer to build
this giant ramp.

♪

Guy investigates why
the romans build it here.

They decided to take
advantage...

[ speaks indistinctly ]

That we're standing on top of.

Narrator: The romans,
choose this spot

To cut by half the height
they must build the ramp.

Even so, building
an almost 500-foot ramp

In desert heat tests roman
military expertise to the limit.

♪

The romans must shift

Hundreds of thousands of tons
of rubble

Before the ramp reaches
the fortress.

♪

Only then can they finally
move their siege towers

Up to the defensive walls
and begin an assault.

♪

Guy believes the romans
work surprisingly fast.

We do know from the american
army, from second world war,

How many stones,
what is a volume of stone,

A soldier,
a fit soldier can move a day.

We can actually calculate
the minimum,

Maximum time it would take
the roman

To build the siege system.

Narrator:
Using these calculations,

Guy works out
that the romans build the ramp

In less than nine weeks.

♪

It's an astonishing achievement.

But how do they build it
so quickly

In the fierce summer heat?

Stiebel: We're in the middle
of the desert. It is hot.

Every day that
you stay down here,

You need to provide yourself
with more food, with more water.

The quicker you finish,
your soldier will be happier,

You will lose less life.

So it is, indeed, imperative

For them to get up there
as quickly as possible.

♪

Narrator: Guy investigates
mysterious wooden fragments

Sticking out of the ramp.

He thinks they are a clue
to its rapid construction.

What is pretty amazing is that

We have here a organic remains
of branches and trees

That are laid here
that they survived 2,000 years.

We can actually see
the line here.

One after the other.

And if you go another meter up,
you can see few mores.

By that, you're creating
kind of shelves and boxes

That supported the rocks
and the soil,

It was done quickly here,

Allowing the romans
to storm masada.

Narrator: The roman attack now
centers on the defensive wall

Of the fortress at the very top
of the giant ramp,

So the entire story

Actually focus into 25 meters,

Just the penetration
points and bridge

To which the roman ramp
actually led.

Narrator: The romans prepare
their final onslaught.

But the essenes's
doomsday prophecy

Reveals the defenders of masada
are ready to fight.

There is a public image of them,

A sort of an indian ashram
in the middle of nowhere,

People that look
for peace and quiet.

But when you actually read
the war scroll,

You can see that the writer
knew much about the art of war.

♪

Narrator: The war scroll
dictates that essene priests

Should lead the sons of light
into a giant battle

Against the sons of darkness.

It's a military plan
that even details the music

That should herald
the start of combat.

So certainly some of the essenes

Were actually very capable
of carrying arms

And using them
against the romans.

Narrator: And high above
the roman troops,

The rebels seemed
to hold all the cards.

The rebels provided
themselves with ammunition,

Rolling stones, big stones.

Narrator:
This stone barrage rains down

On roman siege engineers

At the foot
of masada's massive walls.

How do the romans
protect themselves

From the rebels
on the ramparts above?

♪

Guy's excavations
may reveal the answer.

What you see here is
a ballista ball

Made of limestone,
a local limestone.

The weight is what we call
two pounds, two roman pounds,

Roughly 600 grams.

And just imagine
something like that

Flying from a distance
of 400 meters.

This was meant to kill
or harm human beings.

♪

Narrator: This ballista ball
is evidence the roman artillery

Protects its engineers
with volleys of covering fire.

♪

Len morgan is an expert
in building

And testing ancient
roman weaponry.

He's investigating how
the fearsome weapons are used

By the roman legions at masada.

♪

Within a legion,
you would have 60 bolt shooters

Or arrow shooters
called catapultas.

You would also have
10 larger machines

Called the ballista.

Towards james. Lift it up.

Narrator: Ballista and catapulta
work in a similar way.

Len tests catapulta
that fires iron tip bolts.

♪

Morgan: The main source
of the power

Is the rope...
[ speaks indistinctly ]

On either side
of the front of the machine.

When it's twisted,
that's the spring.

That's what projects the bolt
from the bow string.

Narrator: The bolts are deadly.

It uses a bolt
like this iron headed,

Sharp pointed, designed
to penetrate through shields,

Through body armor.

Right, bolt in.

Go.

Narrator:
Len uses a speed radar gun

To measure the velocity
and killing power of the bolt.

Morgan: What we want to know

Is the speed of the bolt
through the air.

And ideally,
we want to be pushing up to

About 100 miles an hour.

[ speaks indistinctly ]

Len, I got 83.

Well, I'm sure
we can do better than that.

- 91.
- Well, that's better.

At the present moment,

We've achieved about 90 that
I think can be improved on,

Especially if we do some more
tensioning up on the machines.

[ speaks indistinctly ]

Okay, bolt in.

It caused
an awful lot of trauma,

A bit like a modern bullet.

It's going to take you out

Whether it's a killing blow
or not.

♪

Narrator:
Fully tensioned catapultas

Have a range of up to 400 yards

Easily enough
to reach the ramparts of masada

From a safe distance
while the ramp is constructed.

They'll be dropping down in
various places within the walls

And possibly causing casualties
for people

Moving around
within the fortifications.

♪

Narrator: At masada, the romans
used their artillery

To lay down suppressing fire.

How many missiles can a roman
artillery crew fire per minute?

Right, the object to
the exercise is get many bolts

Away as we can,
operate as a team.

Start!

Drop any two.

[ speaks indistinctly ]

Slide the forward, wind back.

30 seconds.

[ speaks indistinctly ]

In they go, straight in.

[ speaks indistinctly ]

One minute, 20.

♪

All right,
how we doing with time?

One minute, 30 seconds.

1 1/2 minutes
to get full bolts away.

Really top trained crew,

Could be pushing out five,
maybe six bolts in a minute.

Especially when you're
under the stress of action,

When you've got enemy
charging up on you

And you're gonna go flat out,
hit it.

Narrator: Each roman legion has
up to 60 machines like this

And legionnaires are drilled
to work to maximum efficiency.

You've got a volley of these

From a legionary machines
of 60 machines.

You get them crashing around
all around you

And people going down,
screaming and shouting,

It's going to cause
utter panic within the ranks.

♪

Narrator:
The rebels defending masada

Face devastating firepower.

10 ballistas down
the every minute there is

A stone in the air, catapultas
shooting constantly.

So you can just imagine how
difficult it was for the jews,

Even just to raise their head.

The entire ammunition
of the romans

Were directed to unleash hell.

♪

Narrator: The rebels can do
nothing to stop the romans

Erecting their siege towers

And slowly climbing
the masada's walls.

♪

Only the fortress ramparts
now stand

Between the defenders
of masada and death

At the hands of the romans.

For the jews, it was, in a way,

The ultimate clash,
the sons of light

Against the son of darkness.

Narrator: The essenes
have escaped doomsday

At qumran and jerusalem.

Do they face it now at masada?

In the final battle

Between the sons of light
and the sons of darkness.

♪

♪

Narrator: 2,000 years ago,

The writers
of the dead sea scrolls

Hide their sacred texts
in remote desert caves.

♪

Known as the essenes,

They never return
to retrieve them.

One of their scrolls,
the war scroll,

Prophesizes is a doomsday battle

Between the forces of light
and darkness.

Now the essenes
are gathered at masada

As the romans prepare to launch
their final attack.

Once they were faced
with the romans,

It was very clear
it was life or death.

There was no other option.

Narrator: The romans now use
their battering rams

And siege towers
to crush the fortress walls.

♪

And to remove a second barricade

The defenders have built up,

The romans set fire to it.

As the sun goes down,
the romans pause their attack.

♪

Stiebel: And it's a very
symbolic sunset.

It was very clear
that the end was near.

Narrator:
Guy turns to an account

By an ancient roman
jewish historian, josephus.

There was one act only that
you can still do and die

As pride man and that is
to commit suicide.

Narrator: 10 rebels take
the lives of the other 900 men,

Women, and children

Before one kills the final nine
and sets fire to the fort.

♪

And takes his own life.

♪

When the romans enter masada,
all the inhabitants are dead.

The apocalypse, the essenes
predict in their scrolls

Becomes reality.

But it's the sons
of darkness that win,

Not the sons of light.

Guy stiebel believes the sect
perform one last significant act

Before they die.

His excavations at masada
unearth a cave

Just like those at qumran.

The people of qumran used
to place their scrolls in jars

And put it in caves.

Narrator: In the fines lab,

Guy examines
this remarkable piece of pottery

Found among the cave debris.

He identifies the fragment
of a pot from its shape.

Actually, we are very thrilled.

We just discover a fragment
of what we believe

Is a cylindrical jar
of the type,

The ones that the essene,

People of qumran used to store
their scroll in

And it was found in the cave
just next to the dining hall.

Narrator:
He believes that this pot

Matches the design of the jars
found in qumran

That contain
the dead sea scrolls.

♪

Is this evidence that
the essenes is facing death,

Hide their last sacred scrolls
in a cave at masada,

Just like they do at qumran?

For us to have that on top
of masada in context in the cave

Is extremely,
extremely significant.

Narrator: After masada,
the essenes vanish from history,

An end foretold
in a remarkable prophecy

That survives 2,000 years
in a desert cave.

The essenes that were here
on top of masada died.

But their ideas
clearly continued.

♪

The essenes left us an enormous
amount of information

That tells us about the world
of jesus,

Judaism in this period,
and ultimately the context

From which early christianity
would emerge.

Narrator: Without the discovery
of these caves

And ancient scrolls,

The oldest bible in the world

Would remain lost
in the judean desert

And the essenes would have been
consigned to oblivion.

But today, the whole world
can read the dead sea scrolls

And its terrifying
prophecy of doomsday.

♪

♪

♪