Country in race to find scrolls

Excavation is first part of a national campaign to recover as many artifacts as possible

The disposable paper face masks offer little protection from the clouds of dust that fill the cliffside cave where Israeli archaeologists are wrapping up the largest excavation in the Judean desert of the past half-century.

Clipped into safety harnesses, volunteers stand at the cave opening, 250 meters above a dry river bed that leads to the lowest spot on earth, the Dead Sea.