Courtesy Yigael Yadin

Like the other Dead Sea Scrolls, the Temple Scroll ended with a page that was blank except for a few lines at the top. Although the top of the Temple Scroll’s last page is not preserved, we can assume that four or five lines originally appeared here.

The last four extant lines of the Temple Scroll text, in column 66 (in the left column of the right page), follow Leviticus 20:17, 19 and 18:12–13, and Deuteronomy 27:22. The text reads:

“A man shall not take his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, for this is an abomination. A man shall not take his father’s sister or his mother’s sister, for it is wickedness. A man shall not take his brother’s daughter or his sister’s daughter, for it is an abomination. A [man] shall not … ”

Part of the last, blank page of the scroll was eaten by insects sometime in the not too distant past (see detail). The scroll was rolled from the end—it’s easy to see the few vertical folds the winding made in the smooth animal skin.