Liberty University Biblical Museum curator continues to uncover Biblical artifacts in Qumran

When curator of the Jerry Falwell Library Biblical Museum Dr. Randall Price is not teaching Liberty students about archeology, he is in Israel digging up pieces of history.

In the past few years, Price has been instrumental in the recovery of many important artifacts from Qumran, the same series of caves where the Dead Sea scrolls were found in Israel.

“Scholars have more questions today than when exploration began back in the 1950s,” Price said. “Those questions have never been fully answered by anyone and the only way to get the answers is to go and dig them up.”

Price and his teams have spent months in Qumran excavating four of the hundreds of caves located in the limestone cliffs scattered throughout the area. 

“Because of things that we were finding at the site, there were still mysteries that we needed to solve,” Price said. “I thought if we could get into those caves and find some new things, we might answer some of our questions. And each new excavation brings us closer to that goal.”

In 1946, the first of the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered by Bedouins (nomadic desert shepherds), but it was not until 1949 that the original cave was rediscovered, and other scroll fragments were found.

“We’ve always believed that there are more scrolls out there but the last scroll that came to light from a cave was in 1956,” Price said. “Even just to find a piece of a scroll is like the holy grail to me, (and) it would feel like a wonderful climax to all the work we have done.”

However, to get into Qumran to dig you need to have a reason. Such a reason arose from a modern problem that could put any undiscovered artifacts at risk of being lost. 

“There were people looting the caves,” Price said. “They would go by cover of night with a small pick and dig around, and if they find something they take it off and sell it on the Black Market and no one ever hears from it again. So, because they were doing this, we could come and say ‘Listen, we’ve got to get to these artifacts before they get to them. ‘We’ve got to prevent the loss of this vital piece of history on behalf of Israel and the Christian world too.’”

Because of this immediate threat to the scrolls and other artifacts, Price and his teams were granted a permit to dig to recover the artifacts before they are all gone.

“Very few people have excavated at the site of Qumran, and I am probably the only evangelical Christian who has directed excavations there,” Price said.

Price is not done in Israel. He plans to return again this year in hopes of recovering any artifacts that remain in the limestone cliffs of Qumran.

“We can all study history, but some of us have had the opportunity to make history. Someone has to go out and do the original field work and recover the past so that we can all benefit from it,” Price said. “That is what I feel God has called me to do.”