Archaeologists have unearthed a new cave associated with the famed Dead Sea Scrolls, filled with ancient storage jars and lids off the Judean cliffside, marking the first successful excavation of its kind in 60 years.

"This exciting excavation is the closest we've come to discovering new Dead Sea scrolls in 60 years," Oren Gutfeld of The Hebrew University said in a statement about the discovery. "Until now, it was accepted that Dead Sea scrolls were found only in 11 caves at Qumran, but now there is no doubt that this is the 12th cave.

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— The Dead Sea Scrolls (@dsscrolls) February 9, 2017

The excavation was supported by the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria, by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), and is a part of the new "Operation Scroll" launched at the IAA by its Director-General, Mr. Israel Hasson, to undertake systematic surveys and to excavate the caves in the Judean Desert.

Has the 12th Dead Sea Scrolls cave been found? https://t.co/X2fGppXVXq — Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) February 8, 2017

The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of nearly 1,000 manuscripts written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic dating back to 4th century BC. The texts were first discovered in 1947 near modern-day West Bank by a Bedouin shepherd.

The important discovery of another scroll cave attests to the fact that a lot of work remains to be done in the Judean Desert and finds of huge importance are still waiting to be discovered," Hasson said. "The State of Israel needs to mobilize and allocate the necessary resources in order to launch a historic operation, together with the public, to carry out a systematic excavation of all the caves of the Judean Desert.