Qumran is an archaeological site in the West Bank, located on a dry plateau about a mile away from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea. The Hellenistic period settlement was constructed during the reign of John Hyrcanus. During the Jewish War, the place is said to have been stormed by Romans and ruined. It is well known as the settlement nearest to the Qumran Caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were hidden. There is a vast evidence that the manuscripts discovered in the Qumran caves belonged to the library of the occupants of the site, a small hermit community referred to as the Dead Sea Sect.