shown on ceramic, 12-inch tilePalestine

on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, in the Judean Desert

Qumran

Name: Qumran — on ceramic tile, by WenderVista
Brand: WenderVista

— — the cliffs that kept the scrolls for two thousand years.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.

— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand

— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines

— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall

— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround

— a note from the studio

“Qumran sits on a marl terrace above the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, in the dry heat of the Judean Desert. Between 1947 and 1956, eleven caves in the surrounding cliffs gave up the Dead Sea Scrolls: close to a thousand manuscripts, including a full Book of Isaiah. The settlement below the cliffs was excavated by Roland de Vaux and is generally read as a community of Essenes.

from the studio

— bring it home

Qumran, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?

One tile — square or rectangle.

How big?

the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand

6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb

Surface finish

A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.

How it sits

A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.

$58

Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.

— size

6 × 6 in

15 cm

— weighs

1.6 lb

solid in the hand

— surface

ceramic, hand-finished

art rests beneath a thin glossy finish

— from

Knoxville, TN

our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies

— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Qumran

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.

— the place

Khirbet Qumran is an archaeological site on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, in the West Bank, about 1.5 km inland from the shore and roughly 20 km east of Jerusalem. The site sits on a marl plateau at about minus 320 metres elevation, framed by limestone cliffs to the west. The settlement was excavated between 1951 and 1956 by the Dominican archaeologist Roland de Vaux, working out of the École Biblique in Jerusalem, after a Bedouin shepherd's discovery of the first scrolls in 1947.

— informed by Wikipedia — Qumran

— the stone

The eleven scroll caves are cut into the soft marl terrace and the harder limestone cliffs above it. Cave 1, found by the shepherd Muhammed edh-Dhib in 1947, held the Great Isaiah Scroll and the Community Rule. Cave 4, opened in 1952, gave up the largest haul: fragments of nearly 600 manuscripts, including parts of every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther. The scrolls are dated between roughly 250 BC and 70 AD on palaeographic and carbon evidence.

— informed by Israel Museum — Dead Sea Scrolls

— the air

The desert at Qumran is among the driest in the region, with annual rainfall under 100 mm and summer highs above 40 degrees Celsius. That climate is the reason the scrolls survived. The Dead Sea, immediately below, sits at the lowest land elevation on Earth, currently around minus 430 metres and falling about a metre a year. The light through Wadi Qumran is hard and clear from late morning, softening only at the last hour before sunset.

— informed by Wikipedia — Dead Sea

— where

Palestine · West Bank

— within

Qumran National Park

— elevation

-320 m · -1,050 ft

— position

31.7414° N · 35.4586° E

— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.

2 km E

Dead Sea

hypersaline lake

4 km S

Ein Feshkha

freshwater spring reserve

22 km N

Jericho

ancient city

Qumran

Dead Sea

Ein Feshkha

Jericho

— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Qumran — and about bringing the piece home.

— about the place

Qumran is on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, in the West Bank, about 20 km east of Jerusalem. The archaeological site sits at roughly minus 320 metres elevation, above the lake itself.

The Dead Sea Scrolls: nearly a thousand ancient Jewish manuscripts, including the oldest known biblical texts. They were found between 1947 and 1956 in eleven caves around the site.

The settlement is generally identified with the Essenes, a Jewish ascetic community active from roughly 150 BC to 68 AD, when the site was destroyed during the First Jewish-Roman War.

The scrolls date from about 250 BC to 70 AD, established through palaeography and carbon-14 testing. They include the oldest known copies of every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther.

Yes. Qumran is an Israel Nature and Parks Authority site, open daily, with an entrance fee, an introductory film, and marked paths to the ruins and a viewpoint over several scroll caves.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Qumran is a touchstone for Bible scholars and for anyone who has worked through the history of the text. The piece reads as recognition, not novelty.

The tile sits well in study, library, and pastor's office settings: warm wood, leather, dark walls. It also reads in Old World, desert-modern, and Jewel-tone Maximalist rooms.

Yes. The Dead Sea Scrolls are foundational to the textual history of the Old Testament. A Qumran piece reads as a thoughtful gift for clergy, seminarians, and serious lay readers.

A single Large reads at desk or console scale. For a sofa or study wall, a 4-tile Mural opens the cliff line more fully. A 9-tile Mural anchors a library.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and handle splash and steam. Glossy is reserved for dry-wall display.

A microfibre cloth, dry or barely damp. No sprays, no abrasives. The colour lives inside the ceramic surface, so normal use does not wear it.

Yes. Every WenderVista tile is curated and hand-finished in our Knoxville studio. We do not license third-party imagery.

— if this one stayed with you