2/16/2008Treasures of the Copper Scroll and their locations according to the scroll
Hidden Treasures
Four Maps on Copper Scroll Locations
in the Dead Sea Area and in Samaria

One of the problems with the Copper Scroll found among the Dead Sea Scrolls is the fact that the names of the locations of treasures are not identifiable. At the end of the scroll the name of Mt. Gerizim (Mountain of Blessings-see Deut. 11.29 and 28.12-26), is mentioned in the context that a copy of the scroll is located nearby in Sechab, to the north of Kochlit. With this clue we can search around Mt. Gerizim, and three ancient maps are important to the search. They come from the collection of Yaacov Aviel, Eretz Israel/Palestine Collection, Gallery Eretz-Hemdat. As I update the page I will identify the map sections.

Samaritan References: moving south to north, from Galgal to Mt. Ebal (spelled Hebal--with the two peaks), which is remembered as the Mt. of Curses (Deut. 11.29; Josh. 8.30-35). Nearby Mt. Gebal is Mt. Garizim, a central locator for many of the treasure sites. Moving north we arrive at Pella, possibly the Ger Pela of the scroll, with Ger translating as Kir.

Maps of Judah focusing around the Dead Sea and Jericho area; these are, admittedly, very hard to read:
This map relates to the treasure site in the Fortress of Nabata, assuming it guards the road to Nabathaei.
This map relates to the immediate area where the Children of Israel crossed over the Jordan, passing under a mount where blessings and curses were pronounced to them.

I have marked in blue interesting sites. Near Limias is the location on other maps where Jesus was baptized. Aphera, near Betharaba, is also interesting, as it has near it three hills, possible cave locations of the Qumran community. The ancient maps show the names of many communities which should coincide with the communities the people who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls knew. It seems that the key location, Kochlit, mentioned in the scroll, is probably in the area of Mt. Ebal, and since the last comment in the scroll has to do with another book carrying a copy of the text and its explanation, we can presume that Kochlit is a cipher name of a place where kings and high priests were buried (a major clue leading back to the area near Mt. Ebal).

These are the treasure sites as listed in the Copper Scroll. The scroll begins with four listings carrying Greek letters. They break down to two triplets and five couplets: KEN; XA(P); HN; (TH)E; (D)I; T(R); and ZK. There are seven Greek notations (an important number) with 16 characters used. The listings follow:


1) In the ruin which is in the valley, pass under the steps leading to the East..seventeen talents..
2) KEN In the sepulchral monument, in the third course..100 gold ingots..
3) In the great cistern of the courtyard of the peristyle, in a hollow in he floor covered with sediment, in front of the upper opening, 900 talents;
4) In the hill of Kochlit..Its opening lies on the edges of the Northern channel, six cubits in the direction of the cave of the ablutions, XA(P) tithe vessels..
5) In the plastered cistern of Manos, going down to the left..forty talents;
6) In the filled tank which is beneath the steps, forty-two talents;
7) HN In the cavity of the carpeted house of Yeshu, in the third platform, sixty-five gold ingots;
8) (TH)E In the cellar which is in Matia's courtyard, there is wood and in the middle of it a cistern..seventy talents of silver;
9) In the cistern which is in front of the Eastern Gate, at a distance of fifteen cubits.vessels;
10) And in the gutter which is in it ten talents;
11) (D)I In the cistern which is underneath the East Wall in a spur of the rock, six silver bars in the entrance, underneath the large threshold.
12) In the pool to the East of Kochlit, in the North corner dig four cubits: twenty-two talents;
13) In the courtyard of ...., underneath the South corner, at nine cubits..six hundred and nine vessels..
14 Beneath the other, eastern corner, dig for sixteen cubits: forty talents of silver;
15) T(R) In the tunnel which is in Milcham, to the North: tithe vessels and my garments. Its entrance is beneath the western corner.
16) In the tomb which is in Milcham, to the Northeast, three cubits below the trap, thirteen talents;
17) In the large cistern which is in...., in the pillar of the North..fourteen talents;
18) ZK In the channel which goes uup to..., when you go forward forty-one cubits...fifty-five talents of silver;
19) Between the two buildings which are in the valley of Akon, at their midpoint, dig for three cubits..two jugs filled with silver;
20) In the earth tunnel which is on the edge of the Asla...two hundred talents of silver;
21) In the Eastern tunnel which is to the North of Kochlit..seventy talents of silver;
22) In the burial mound of the valley of Sekaka, dig for a cubit..12 talents of silver;
23) At the start of the water conduit in Sekaka, to the North, beneath the large stone, dig for three cubits..seven talents of silver;
24) In the fissure which is in Sekaka, to the East of Solomon's cistern..tithe vessels;
25) Close by, above Solomon's trench, sixty cubits up to the large rim, dig for three cubits..twenty-three talents of silver;
26) In the tomb which is in the ha-Kippa stream, in the approach from Jericho to Sekaka, dig for seven cubits...thirty-two talents;
27) In the cave of the column with two entrances, facing East, in the North entrance, dig for three cubits: there is an amphora there, in it a book, under it forty-two talents;
28) In the cavity at the base of the rock, facing East, dig in the entrance for nine cubits..twenty-one talents;
29) In the Queen's residence, on the West side dig for twelve cubits..twenty-seven talents;
30) In the burial mound of the ford of the High Priest, dig for nine cubits..twenty-two talents;
31) In the channel of Qi...in the North cistern, which is large with four sides..measure twenty four cubits..four hundred talents;
32) In the cavity next to it, in the vicinity of Beth-Chagosh, dig for six cubits..six silver bars;
33) In Doq, under the East corner of the Citadel, dig for seven cubits..twenty-two talents;
34) Above the mouth of the water outlet of Koziba dig for three cubits towards the parapet..sixty talents of silver, two talents of gold;
35) In the channel which is on the road to the East of Beth-Achsar, to the East of Achzar: tithe vessels and books and a bar of silver.
36) In the outer valley, in the middle of the pen, in the stone, dig for seventeen cubits..silver and gold, seventeen talents;
37) In the burial mound which is at the entrance to the narrow pass of the potter, dig for three cubits..four talents;
38) In the ploghed land which is in ha-Shave', facing the West, in the suthern part, in the celar facing North, dig for twenty-four cubits..sixty-six talents;
39) In the irrigated land which is in ha-Shave', in the landmark which is thre, dig for eleven cubits..seventy talents of silver;
40) In the dovecote which is on the edge of Nataf, measure from the edge thirteen cubits, dig for two, and under seven slabs..four bars of two minas;
41) In the Second Estate, under the cellar facing to the East, dig for eight cubits: the tithe of Chasa, twenty-two and a half talents.
42) In the cellars of Choron, in the cellar facing the sea, in the basin dig for sixteen cubits..twenty-two talents;
43) In Qobah a mina of silver, a sacred offering;
44) In the waterfalls near the edge of the conduit, to the East of its outlet, dig for seven cubits..nine talents;
45) In the cistern which is to the North of the mouth of narrow pass of Beth-Tamar, in the rocky ground of Ger Pela, everything which is there is a sacred offering. In the dovecote of the fortress of Nabata...
46) To the South of the Second (Estate?), on the second floor when going down from above..nine talents;
47) In the waterwheel of the irrigation ditches fed by the great stream, at its foot..twelve talents;
48) In the cistern which is in Beth ha-Keren, going to the left for ten paces..sixty-two talents;
49) In the water tank of the Valley of Zok on the West side, thre is a stone held in place by two supports..It is the entrance three hundred talents of gold and twenty atonement vessels;
50) Under Absalom's memorial, on the West side dig for twelve paces..eighty talents;
51) In the basin of the latrines of Siloam, beneath the water outlet..seventeen talents;
52) In its pool, at its four corners, tithe vessels.
53) Very near there, underneath the South corner of the Portico, in Zadok's tomb, underneath the colunm of the exedra..tithe vessels...;
54) Very near there, in the concession at the tip of the rock, towards the West, opposite Zadok's garden, under the large slab which covers the water outlet a sacred offering;
55) In the grave which is underneath the colonnades..forty talents;
56) In the grave of the sons of Ha'amata of Jericho there are vessels of myrtle...
57) Very close by, in Beth Esdatain, in the cistern at the entrance to the smallest water basin, vessels...
58) Very close by, at the West entrance of the sepulchre room, there is a platform for the stove above...900 talents of silver, five talents of gold. Sixty talents in its West entrance, under the black stone. At its side, unerneath the threshold of the burial chamber, forty-two talents;
59) On Mount Garizim, underneath the staircase of the upper tunnel: a chest and all its contents and sixty talents of silver.
60) In the mouth of the spring of Beth-Sham...six hundred talents;
61) In the large conduit of the burial chamber up to Beth-Hakuk..seventy-one talents, twenty minas;
62) In the tunnel which is in Sechab, to the North of Kochlit, which opens towards the North and has graves in its entrance, a copy of this text and its explanation and their measurements and the inventory of everything, item by item. (end of text)

Total talents of silver and gold: 3,805.5. An Hebrew talent is equal to 93.75 pounds of silver, and the total weight of the treasure would be 356,765 pounds of silver.

Most of the treasure appears to be distributed around four main sites: in the south of Hebron at the ancient Tamar; in Samaria near Shechem; Jerusalem, and near Jericho.

We know that Kochlit is near Mount Garizim, which is near Shechem, since Shechem is situated between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. Joseph is buried in Shechem.

Since Solomon's cisterns are mentioned, and also the palace of the Queen, we might set our sites where he kept his horse stables in Samaria. I would look for the book first.

Because of the dispersion of the (temple) hoard, it makes sense that much of it would be distributed in Ephraim, since General Vespasian and his son Titus launched their invasion into and through Galilee, where one of their first victims turned out to be Josephus, a governor of one of the cities in Galilee and a high priest. He was taken captive and accompanied the Roman army which finally dug itself in before the walls of Jerusalem at Passover 70 A.D. Seeing that army coming upon Jerusalem, it would make sense to move the Temple treasure out of Jerusalem to a safe haven. The size of the hoard would have required a large troop itself to disperse the treasure in four directions, with the safe direction being north into Samaria. It also had strong religious significance, since Mt. Ebal and Mount Gerizim were the location where Moses told the people to place a blessing when they come into their land, which was received by Mount Gerizim (Deut. 11.29); Mt. Ebal was to receive the Curse. So we learn in Deut. 27.12-26 the leaders of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Isachar, and Judah would stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people as they pass between the two mountains; the leaders of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali would stand atop Mount Ebal and pronounce the curses. The curses ended (Deut 27.26) with this curse: Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.

The people of the Dead Sea Scrolls called themselves the Sons of Zadok. Zadok was high priest who defended the Ark of the Covenant (the Holy Scriptures) during the exile of King David, and the sons of Zadok, mentioned in Ezekiel, are described as being the ones to greet the Messiah in the Last Days. Thus, the people who hid the treasure and the books of the Dead Sea Scrolls, felt a powerful responsibility to defend the Law and, of course, the treasures of the Temple. In their own writings and commentaries it is clear that they upheld the Law of Moses and carried in their writings procedural instructions on sacrificing, etc.

The small community at Qumran would not have been able to carry out the logistics of distributing the treasure and the books. On one of my maps (see the The_Twelfth_Cave.html) there is a community known as Bela (meaning destroying), later known as Zoar (meaning little). It was spared the destruction which came upon Sodom and Gomorrah. There is also another city with the same name on the ancient maps which situates it at the south end of the Dead Sea.

Apart from calling themselves the Sons of Zadok, the community at Qumran did not leave in their writings the name of their community. However, there is a calandar and list of priests and when they are to carry out their particular festivals. The lists pretty much follow what might be expected out of a schedule for priests officiating in Jerusalem.

Now the Samaritans established a Second Temple which was considered an abomination by Judah, since at the core of its worship was an effigy of a bull. Also, another attempt to establish a temple occurred at Heliopolis, in Egypt; and nearby were found the Nag Hammadi library which certainly did not reflect the faith of those who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, but did carry a copy of what is now known as the "Damascus Document."

Copies of some Dead Sea Scrolls were also found among the zealots who committed suicide at Masada, before another siege of Roman troops.

How the garments of the priest who wrote the Copper Scroll were buried in Samaria, though he delivered the scroll to Qumran, may indicate the pattern of the dispersion: first north and then perhaps during Titus' siege of Jerusalem, south and into Idumea, on to Egypt, for the survivors.

With regard to the Christian experience in the Diaspora, a similar pattern took place, where the apostles returned north to their homes in Galilee. Then, as the pressure upon the Jews was increased, they (like St. Peter) scattered into Syria and then Cappadocia and Greece.

The distribution of the Temple Treasure seems to reflect what we already know of the dispersion of the Jews when Titus laid siege to Jerusalem.


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Launched 6.28.97
Updated 5.27.2000; 1.17.05; 2.09.05; 2.16.08
Copyright © 1996-2008 Maravot. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1996-2008 Mel Copeland. All rights reserved.