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3D Scanning Deciphers Ancient Hebrew Scroll
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FeedSource: [CNET] collected from rss-bot logs
Time: 2015-07-21 06:35:23 UTC
Original URL: http://www.cnet.com/news/3d-scanning-deciphers-ancient-hebrew-scroll/#ftag=CAD590a51e [cnet.com]
Title: 3D scanning deciphers ancient Hebrew scroll
Suggested Topics by Probability (Experimental) : 45.5 science 36.4 hardware 9.1 careers 9.1 OS
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3D scanning deciphers ancient Hebrew scroll
A scroll that had been burnt to charcoal inside the Ein Gedi synagogue some 1,500 years ago has now been read for the first time, thanks to modern technology.
Ein Gedi is an oasis located on the western shore of the Dead Sea, where fresh water flows from underground year-round. Over the millennia, it has been home to various human settlements, including a Jewish village with a synagogue erected in the third century.
One of the additions to the synagogue, made in the fourth century, was a niche in the northern wall, which housed an ark, a receptacle to contain the synagogue's scrolls of Torah. The Torah is comprised of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy -- the first five books of the Bible.
An archaeological expedition to the Ein Gedi synagogue uncovered the ancient scroll in 1970 -- the oldest scroll discovered since the Dead Sea Scrolls were found between 1946 and 1956. The Dead Sea Scrolls, dating from between around 408 BC to 308 AD, however, were in good condition.
The Ein Gedi scroll -- carbon dated to the sixth century -- was not. It was burned and blackened into charcoal -- unable to be unrolled and deciphered.
"Ein Gedi was a Jewish village in the Byzantine period (fourth-seventh century) and had a synagogue with an exquisite mosaic floor and a Holy Ark. The settlement was completely burnt to the ground, and none of its inhabitants ever returned to reside there again, or to pick through the ruins in order to salvage valuable property," Sefi Porath, the archaeologist who found the scroll in 1970, said in a statement [antiquities.org.il].
"We have no information regarding the cause of the fire, but speculation about the destruction ranges from Bedouin raiders from the region east of the Dead Sea to conflicts with the Byzantine government."
Using X-ray imaging, 45 years after the scroll's discovery and after a year of very careful work, an international team of researchers has managed to find out what message the scroll contains: the first eight verses of the Book of Leviticus, laying down the rules for ritual sacrifice.
The scroll was stored in a climate-controlled vault by the Israel Antiquities Authority and carefully scanned by Israeli company Merkel Technologies, which volunteered the use of its equipment and expertise for the project. Using a micro computed-tomography X-ray scanner, high-resolution 3D images were taken of the scroll's interior.
These scans were then sent overseas to the University of Kentucky, where computer science professor Brent Searles had developed digital imaging software that allowed the scans to be virtually unrolled, making the text legible.
The find is remarkable because it marks the first time that a Torah scroll has been found inside an ancient synagogue, let alone an ark.
"This discovery absolutely astonished us: We were certain it was just a shot in the dark but decided to try and scan the burnt scroll anyway," curator and director of the Israel Antiquities Authority's Dead Sea Scrolls projects Pnina Shor said. "Now, not only can we bequeath the Dead Sea Scrolls to future generations, but also a part of the Bible from a Holy Ark of a 1,500-year old synagogue!"
