This video on the History Time channel explains the 20th century discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Judaean Desert, being about 800 manuscripts written 2,000 years ago in Aramaic, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew.  The scrolls were discovered hidden in caves in the region, and they are essentially a long-lost “library” from that time.  The writings are three major types— being alternative versions of biblical texts, writings about everyday life at the time, and “sectarian scrolls” that describe the life and teachings of the people who made the writings.  [Note the documentary mentions the fact that some of the scrolls were torn into tiny pieces, and I have heard that the people who retrieved them from the caves tore them up in such a manner because they were told that they would be compensated based on the number of documents that they found, not realizing the significance of the documents.]  After explaining the discovery of the scrolls, the documentary then explains the complicated political situation that was happening in that region of the world at the time they were written.