EVEN a scrap can be worth millions. And the words they contain can shake the world. Now Israel is launching a desperate hunt to rescue any surviving 2000-year-old Dead Sea scrolls.
A steady stream of fragments of ancient biblical manuscripts have been appearing on the black market ever since the caves of Qumran in the Judaean Desert were found to hold a hidden cache of scrolls in 1947.
The tattered, decaying and darkened documents are widely regarded as the ‘crown jewels’ of Israel’s archaeological heritage. Inscribed on their pages is an early insight to the evolution of religious thought in the decades before the emergence of the biblical Jesus, as well as transcripts of much older documents.
The most recent fragments emerged just a few months ago, after their new American owners forked out millions for the opportunity to own a piece of religious history.
It’s spurred Israel’s Antiquities Authority to act. It fears fragile, more complete manuscripts are being looted from previously unknown caves near the Dead Sea before being broken up — and possibly forged — before being sold to the highest bidder.
Read the article in the Courier Mail by Jamie Seidel (AP, News Corp Australia Network).
This story has also been covered by Sight Magazine.