A museum exhibition in Ventura County highlighting the Dead Sea Scrolls has received its final batch of new scrolls before closing later this year.
The exhibition of the ancient manuscripts opened at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley last November.
Because of their extreme light sensitivity, the scrolls can only be displayed for three months at a time before going back into storage in total darkness for five years. They've been rotated throughout the exhibition. Eight scrolls are being taken off display this week, and eight new ones are being installed for the final three months of the exhibition.
The latest group of scrolls includes what's known as the Community Rule Scroll 4Q260, which contains rules governing the life and beliefs of people living at Qumran around the First Century BCE. The manuscripts are on loan from the Israeli Antiquities Authority.
So far, more than 140,000 people have seen the exhibition. It’s set to close September 2.
