War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness

The manuscript was among the scrolls found in Qumran Cave 1, acquired by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and first published posthumously by Eleazar Sukenik in 1955.

[2] The 4Q491–497 fragments were published by Maurice Baillet in Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, volume 7 and comprise a shorter recension of the War Scroll.

[1] More recently, author Russell Gmirkin disagrees with Yadin's analysis and assigns the weaponry described in the War Scroll to the 2nd century BCE.

The unity and cohesiveness of the manuscript leads some, such as Jean Carmignac and Yigael Yadin, to believe that it was written or compiled by a single writer.

[7] In modern times, the genre of 1QM has been described as apocalyptic literature, though some translators and interpreters contend that it is actually a part of sectarian liturgy or tactical treatises.

In the War against the Kittim each side will fight alongside angelic hosts and supernatural beings and final victory is achieved for the Sons of Light directly by the hand of God.

[7] Yigael Yadin and Géza Vermes have argued that the descriptions of the armament, equipment and formation of the Sons of Light suggest a basis in Roman methods of warfare.