Copper Scroll - Claims

Claims

The treasure of the scroll has been assumed to be treasure of the Jewish Temple, presumably the Second Temple, among other options.

The theories of the origin of the treasure were broken down by Theodor H. Gaster:

• First, the treasure could be that of the Qumran community. The difficulty here is that the community is assumed to be an ascetic brotherhood, with which vast treasures are difficult to reconcile. (Yet community, as opposed to individual wealth, for a future hoped-for temple is possible. Such is proposed by, among others, Andre Dupont-Sommer, Stephen Goranson, and Emile Puech.)
• Second, the treasure could be that of the Second Temple. However, Gaster cites Josephus as stating that the main treasure of the Temple was still in the building when it fell to the Romans, and also that other Qumranic texts appear to be too critical of the priesthood of the Temple for their authors to have been close enough to take away their treasures for safekeeping. (The Arch of Titus shows some temple items taken to Rome. But several scholars expressed this view.)
• Third, the treasure could be that of the First Temple, destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, in 586 BC. This would not seem to fit with the character of the other scrolls, unless perhaps the scroll was left in a cave during the Babylonian Exile, possibly with a small community of caretakers who were precursors of the Dead Sea Scrolls community. (The scroll was written too late for this proposal.)
• Fourth, Gaster's own favourite theory is that the treasure is a hoax.

There are other options besides those listed by Gaster (see Wolters in Bibliography p. 15-17 for a more up-to-date list). For instance Manfred Lehmann considered it Temple contributions collected after 70 AD.

Scholars are divided as to what the actual contents are. However, metals, such as copper and bronze were a common outlet with which archival record were kept. Along with this, “formal characteristics” establish a “line of evidence” that suggest this scroll is an authentic “administrative document of Herod’s Temple in Jerusalem.” As a result, this evidence has led a number of people to believe that the treasure really does exist. One such person is John Allegro, who in 1962 led an expedition. By following some of the places listed in the scroll, the team excavated some potential burial places for the treasure. However, as can be imagined the treasure hunters turned up empty handed.

Thus, a treasure has yet to be found. Even if none of the treasures comes to light, 3Q15, as a new, long ancient Hebrew text has significance. For example, as comparative Semitic languages scholar Jonas C. Greenfield noted, it has great significance for lexicography.)

Robert Eisenman, in his book "James the Brother of Jesus" argues that the Copper Scroll is an authentic treasure map created by the Essene community, and places its authorship around the time of the First Revolt. He later maintains that a duplicate copy of the scroll may have been discovered by the Knights Templar during the First Crusade, who then dug up all the treasure and used it to fund their order. These claims are not taken seriously by most scholars.

It is more than plausible that the Romans discovered the treasure. Perhaps when the temple of Herod was destroyed the Romans went looking for any treasure and riches the temple may have had in its possession. .

The Romans might easily have acquired some or all of the treasure listed in the Copper Scroll by interrogating and torturing captives, which was normal practice. According to Josephus the Romans had an active policy regarding the retrieval of hidden treasure. And like the story above, their means of discovering treasure locations almost always rest in interrogation and torture.