Israel unveils fragments of 2,000-year-old Bible scroll
Dr Joe Uziel (L) and Tanya Bitler (R), of the Manuscripts Unit, in the Archeology Department of the Israel Museum.
© Sami Boukhelifa / RFI
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
This is an exceptional archaeological find: Israel this week unveiled fragments of a 2,000-year-old biblical parchment.
This manuscript and other invaluable pieces were unearthed in the Judean Desert and are now in the laboratory of the Archaeological Department of the Israel Museum.
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With our correspondent in Jerusalem,
Sami Boukhelifa
Using his badge and a code, Doctor Joe Uziel from the Archeology Department of the Israel Museum opens the heavy door to his laboratory.
Inside, the parchment fragments are arranged in frames under glass on a large table.
“
For the first time in years, we have additional fragments of Bible texts that come from the desert,” he
explains.
These fragments are part of the famous
Dead Sea Scrolls
, discovered in the 1950s. On these fragments, the text is written in Greek, with the exception of the word
God
, which is written in ancient Hebrew.
"
Fight against the looting of heritage
The
famous Dead Sea Scrolls
were discovered in a cave in the Judean Desert between 1947 and 1956. This time, excavations there also uncovered other remains, including a 10-year-old woven basket. 500 years.
Doctor Joe Uziel and his team delicately wrap it up.
“
This basket dates from the Neolithic period.
It is a precious piece, it must be taken care of
, he continues.
The desert climate helps to preserve organic matter and therefore to store it, we must reproduce the same climatic conditions: temperature, humidity, everything must be the same.
It must be returned quickly to a suitable room.
"
The other objective of these archaeological excavations is to fight against the looting of heritage.
The excavation operation extended to
the part of the Judean Desert located in the occupied West Bank
.
►
To read also:
The Dead Sea Scrolls: from the caves of Qumran to the internet
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