The scrolls are ancient manuscripts of great historical and religious importance. They were found in dry riverbed caves on the northwestern side of the Dead Sea (a salt lake situated between Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan). More than 800 scrolls have been found, with the most famous discoveries made in 1947. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found miles apart at a number of different sites, including Khirbat Qumran in the West Bank (formerly Israel). The texts date to different centuries but include fragments of every book of the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament) except the Book of Esther. Some texts are almost identical to Bible texts used today, showing that much of the Old Testament is the same as it was 2,000 years ago.