The object of this book is to make clear to the reader the significance of the finds of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran, by placing them and explaining them within the framework of the age in which they were composed, and thus letting the ancient documents speak for themselves as far as possible. When we are defining this framework, however, we have to reckon with much that is uncertain and obscure. We have therefore striven to omit, as far as may be, all that is doubtful, and to present what are assured results in their proper light. A book such as this must bear the hallmark of the year in which it was written, since new discoveries are still being made, and publication of the finds has only started.