The Ancient Treasure Inventory of Jerusalem’s Temple
In 1952, archaeologists discovered a scroll unlike any other: a text engraved on thin sheets of copper rather than parchment or papyrus. Found in Cave 3 at Qumran under the supervision of Professor Gerald Harding, it had hardened so badly that it was sent to Manchester, England, where specialists cut it open to read it. It remains the only known copper scroll of its kind found in Israel, and most scholars date it to the first century CE.
One of its best-known entries reads:
“In the desolations of the Valley of Achor, under the hill that must be climbed, hidden under the east side, forty stones deep, is a silver chest; and with it the vestments of the High Priest, all the gold and silver with the Great Tabernacle (the Mishkan) and all its treasures.”
The items described are not merely wealth. They include priestly garments, sacred vessels, and treasures associated with the Mishkan, suggesting ritual objects connected with Temple worship. The scroll also refers to the Cave of the Column by the River of the Dome, along with many other landmarks. Paleographic analysis suggests the text may have been engraved by multiple scribes, possibly five.
Later Jewish tradition preserves striking parallels. Massekhet Keilim describes sacred Temple vessels hidden during crisis and says they were recorded on a copper plate by Shimur the Levite and his companions. In the 1990s, renewed attention to Emeq HaMelek, the Cairo Genizah, and reports of Beirut marble tablets strengthened interest in these traditions. Rabbinic sources such as Huriot 12A and Yoma 72a were also cited as preserving the belief that Jeremiah hid the Ark, the Anointing Oil, Aaron’s Staff, and other sacred objects, and that these hidden things would one day be found again.
Within this framework, the Dead Sea wilderness becomes more than an archaeological setting. Its caves, ravines, and limestone cliffs form a landscape suited for concealment and preservation. The Valley of Achor, named in the Copper Scroll, carries special meaning: in Joshua 7 it is a place of trouble, but in Hosea 2:15 it becomes a “door of hope.” This reversal made the valley central to later restoration theology.
That is where Vendyl Jones enters the story. His work remained unfamiliar to many, despite support from prominent Jewish figures. He became known for trying to interpret the Copper Scroll and match its references to actual terrain. In 1968, he identified the River of the Dome and the Cave of the Column, and over time claimed to identify thirty-two landmarks mentioned in the scroll.
Jones’s team later reported two major discoveries. In 1988, they found a juglet of thick oil, tested at Hebrew University and identified as Holy Anointing Oil (Shemen Mishchah). In 1992, they uncovered a hidden silo containing a reddish substance analyzed as Holy Incense (Qetoret), together with Karsina Lye and Sodom Salt. About 900 pounds of incense material were reportedly recovered. These finds brought major publicity, including coverage in The New York Times, television networks, and National Geographic.
His relationship with the Israel Antiquities Authority later deteriorated, and his excavation license was withdrawn. Still, in 1994 he used ground-penetrating radar at the Cave of the Column, confirming a large underground chamber later estimated at 25 feet high and 65 feet wide. Jones believed this chamber might hold the ashes of the Red Heifer, the Mishkan, or other sacred objects. He connected it with the Valley of Achor as a “door of hope” and named a later drilling effort Project Petakh Tiqvah.
At the same time, Jones expanded his interpretation into a larger prophetic framework centered on Gilgal. He argued that just as Israel’s kingdom had first been renewed there, it would be renewed there again before the rebuilding of the Temple. Using thermal remote sensing in 1994, his team identified a large rectangular enclosure near the Jordanian border, which he interpreted as the geder and makhitzot surrounding the ancient Mishkan camp at Joshua’s Gilgal. The wall measured roughly 1,000 by 1,500 feet, was about 36 feet wide, and only 20 inches high. Jones saw this as a sacred boundary, not a defensive wall, and linked breaches later cut by Beit Arava in 1939 with Amos 9:11–12.
In Jones’s overall view, the Copper Scroll, the hidden Temple treasures, the Cave of the Column, the Valley of Achor, and Gilgal all belong to one restoration pattern: sacred things were hidden in a time of destruction and preserved until the appointed time of renewal.
THE COPPER SCROLL — 3Q15
Paraphrase
Column I
In the ruin of Horebbah[1] which is in the valley of Achor, under the steps heading eastward about forty feet, lies a chest of silver that weighs seventeen talents.
In the tomb of the third section of stones there is one hundred gold bars.
Nine hundred talents are concealed by sediment towards the upper opening, at the bottom of the big cistern in the courtyard of the peristyle.
Priests’ garments and flasks that were given as vows are buried in the hill of Kohlit[4]. This is all of the votive offerings of the seventh treasure. The second tenth is impure.
The opening is at the edge of the canal on its northern side six cubits toward the immersed pool.
Enter into the hole of the waterproofed Reservoir of Manos[5], descend to the left. Forty talents of silver lie three cubits from the bottom.
Column II
Forty-two talents lie under the stairs in the salt pit.
Sixty-five bars of gold lie on the third terrace in the cave of the old Washer’s House[6].
Seventy talents of silver are enclosed in wooden vessels that are in the cistern[7] of a burial chamber in Matia’s courtyard[8].
Fifteen cubits from the front of the eastern gates lies a cistern. The ten talents lie in the canal of the cistern.
Six silver bars are located at the sharp edge of the rock which is under the eastern wall in the cistern. The cistern’s entrance is under the large paving stone threshold.
Dig down four cubits in the northern corner of the pool that is east of Kohlit. There will be twenty-two talents of silver coins.
Column III
Dig down nine cubits into the southern corner of the courtyard. There will be silver and gold vessels given as offerings: bowls, cups, sprinkling basins, libation tubes, and pitchers. Altogether they will total six hundred nine pieces.
Dig down sixteen cubits under the eastern corner to find forty talents of silver.
Votive vessels and priestly garments are at the northern end of the dry well located in Milham[9]. The entrance is underneath the western corner.
Thirteen talents of silver coins are located three cubits beneath a trap door in the tomb in the north-east end of Milham.
Column IV
Fourteen talents of silver can be found in the pillar on the northern side of the big cistern in Kohlit.
When you go forty-one cubits into the canal that comes from there, you will find fifty-five talents of silver.
Dig down three cubits in the middle of the two boulders in the Valley of Achor, and you will find two pots full of silver coins.
At the mouth of the underground cavity in Aslah[10] sit two hundred talents of silver.
Seventy talents of silver are located in the eastern tunnel which is to the north of Kohlit.
Dig for only one cubit into the memorial mound of stones in the valley of Sekaka[11] to find twelve talents of silver.
Column V
A water conduit is located on the northern side of Sekaka.
Dig down three cubits under the large stone at the head of this water conduit to discover seven talents of silver.
Vessels of offering can be found in the fissure of Sekaka, which is on the eastern side of the reservoir of Solomon[12].
Twenty-three talents of silver are buried quite nearby above Solomon’s Canal.
To locate the exact spot go sixty cubits toward the great stone and dig down three cubits.
Thirty-two talents of silver can be located by digging seven cubits under the tomb in the dried-up riverbed of Kepah[13], which is between Jericho and Sekaka.
Column VI
Forty-two talents of silver lie underneath a scroll in an urn.
To locate the urn, dig down three cubits into the northern opening of the cave of the pillar that has two entrances and faces east.
Twenty-one talents of silver can be found by digging nine cubits beneath the entrance of the eastward-looking cave at the base of the large stone.
Twenty-seven talents of silver can be found by digging twelve cubits into the western side of the Queen’s Mausoleum[14].
Dig nine cubits into the burial mound of stones located at the Ford of the High Priest to find twenty-two talents of silver.
Column VII
To find four hundred talents of silver measure out twenty-four cubits from the water conduit of Q… of the northern reservoir with four sides[15].
Dig six cubits into the cave that is nearby Bet Ha-Qos[16] to locate six bars of silver.
Dig seven cubits down under the eastern corner of the citadel of Doq[17] to find twenty-two talents of silver.
Dig three cubits by the row of stones at the mouth of the Kozibah river[18] to obtain sixty talents of silver and two talents of gold.
Column VIII
A bar of silver, ten vessels of offering, and ten books are in the aqueduct on the road that is to the east of Bet Ahsor[19], which is east of Ahzor[20].
Dig down seventeen cubits beneath the stone that lies in the middle of the sheep pen located in the outer valley to find seventeen talents of silver and gold.
Dig three cubits under the burial mound of stones located at the mouth of the Potter Ravine to find four talents of silver.
Dig twenty-four cubits below the northward burial chamber that is located on the south-west side of the fallow field of the valley of ha-Shov to reveal sixty-six talents.
Dig eleven cubits at the landmark in the irrigated land of ha-Shov and you will find seventy talents of silver.
Column IX
Measure out thirteen cubits from the small opening at the edge of Nataf[21] and dig down seven cubits there. Seven talents of silver and four stater coins lie there.
Dig down eight cubits into the eastern-looking cellar of the second estate of Chasa to obtain twenty-three and a half talents of silver.
Dig sixteen cubits into the narrow seaward-facing part of the underground chambers of Horon[22] to discover twenty-two talents of silver.
A sacred offering worth one mina of silver is located at the pass.
Dig down seven cubits at the edge of the conduit on the eastern side inside the waterfall to locate nine talents of silver.
Column X
When going down to the second floor, look to the small opening to find nine talents of silver coins.
Twelve talents lie at the foot of the water wheel of the dried-up irrigation ditches which would be fed by the great canal.
Sixty-two talents of silver can be found by going to the left for ten paces at the reservoir which is in Beth Hakerem[23].
Three hundred talents of gold and twenty penalty fees can be found at the entrance to the pond of the valley Zok. The entrance is on the western side by the black stone that is held in place by two supports.
Eight talents of silver can be found by digging under the western side of Absalom’s Memorial[24].
Seventeen talents are located beneath the water outlet in the base of the latrines.
Gold and vessels of offering are in this pool at its four angles.
Column XI
Very near there, under the southern corner of the portico in Zadok’s tomb[25], beneath the pillars of the covered hall are ten vessels of offering of pine resin and an offering of senna.
Gold coins and consecrated offerings are located under the great closing stone that is by the edge, next to the pillars that are nearby the throne, and toward the tip of the rock to the west of the garden of Zadok.
Forty talents of silver are buried in the grave that is under the colonnades.
Fourteen votive vessels possibly of pine and resin are in the tomb of the common people at Jericho.
Vessels of offering of aloes and tithe of white pine are located at Beth Esdatain in the reservoir at the entrance of the small pool.
Over nine hundred talents of silver are next to the reservoir at the brook that runs near the western entrance of the sepulchre room.
Column XII
Five talents of gold and sixty more talents are under the black stone at the western entrance.
Forty-two talents of silver coins are in the proximity of the black stone at the threshold of the sepulchral chamber.
Sixty talents of silver and vessels are in a chest that is under the stairs of the upper tunnel on Mount Garizim[26].
Six hundred talents of silver and gold lie in the spring of Beth-Sham[27].
Treasure weighing seventy-one talents and twenty minas are in the big underground pipe of the burial chamber at the point where it joins the house of the burial chamber.
A copy of this inventory list, its explanation, and the measurements and details of every hidden item are in the dry underground cavity that is in the smooth rock north of Kohlit[28]. Its opening is toward the north with the tombs at its mouth.
Bibliography
Andersen, Francis I., and David Noel Freedman. Hosea: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Bible 24. New York: Doubleday, 1980.
Brooke, George J. “Melchizedek in the Dead Sea Scrolls.” In The Scrolls and Biblical Traditions, 221–234. Leiden: Brill, 2006.
Charlesworth, James H., ed. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Vol. 2. New York: Doubleday, 1985.
García Martínez, Florentino. The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated: The Qumran Texts in English. Leiden: Brill, 1996.
García Martínez, Florentino, and Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar. The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition. 2 vols. Leiden: Brill, 1997–1998.
Goldingay, John. The Message of Isaiah 40–55: A Literary-Theological Commentary. London: T&T Clark, 2005.
Goldstein, Jonathan A. II Maccabees: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Bible 41A. New York: Doubleday, 1983.
Milik, Józef T. Ten Years of Discovery in the Wilderness of Judaea. London: SCM Press, 1959.
Puech, Émile. “The Copper Scroll Revisited.” In The Dead Sea Scrolls Fifty Years After Their Discovery, edited by Lawrence H. Schiffman, Emanuel Tov, and James C. VanderKam, 423–432. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 2000.
Schiffman, Lawrence H. Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1994.
VanderKam, James C., and Peter Flint. The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2002.
Vermes, Geza. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English. Revised edition. London: Penguin Books, 2012.
Wise, Michael, Martin Abegg Jr., and Edward Cook. The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. Allegro, John M. The Treasure of the Copper Scroll. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1960.
Lefkovits, Etgar. The Copper Scroll Deciphered. Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing, 2000.
Wolters, Al. “The Copper Scroll and the Temple Treasures.” Journal of Jewish Studies 45 (1994): 267–281.
Primary Text Sources
Massekhet Kelim. In James H. Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Vol. 2. New York: Doubleday, 1985.
The Copper Scroll (3Q15). In Florentino García Martínez and Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar, The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, Vol. 2. Leiden: Brill, 1997–1998.
The Melchizedek Scroll (11Q13). In Florentino García Martínez, The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated. Leiden: Brill, 1996.
