The Bedouins

The Bedouin initially took the scrolls to a dealer named Ibrahim 'Ijha in Bethlehem. 'Ijha returned all of them, stating they were worthless, right after getting cautioned that they could have been ripped off from a synagogue.

Undaunted, the Bedouin went along to a neighborhood marketplace, where a Syrian Christian agreed to purchase them. A sheikh joined their discussion and suggested they take the scrolls to Khalil Eskander Shahin, ``Kando,'' a cobbler and part-time antiques seller. The Bedouin and also the traders returned to the site, leaving behind a single scroll with Kando and offering three others to a dealer for ($29 in 2003 US dollars).

Plans with the Bedouin left the scrolls in the hands of a third party until any profitable sale of these might be negotiated. That third party, George Isha'ya, was a fellow member of the Syrian Orthodox Church, which soon approached St. Mark's Monastery in the hope of getting an appraisal with the nature of the texts. Information about the find then arrived at Metropolitan Athanasius Yeshue Samuel, better known as Mar Samuel.