Jerusalem (AFP)

Israel on Tuesday unveiled fragments of a 2,000-year-old Bible parchment found in the Judean Desert, calling the find "historic" and one of the most important since that of the mythical Dead Sea Scrolls.

The pieces of the manuscript, written in Greek but where the word "Lord" is written in ancient Hebrew, made it possible, according to Israeli researchers, to reconstitute passages from the books of Zechariah and Nahum, taken from the book of the twelve little prophets of the Bible.

This is the first time in about 60 years that excavations have unearthed pieces of a Bible parchment, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority (AIA).

They were found in a cliffside cave in Nahal Hever Nature Reserve, as part of a nationwide operation to fight heritage looting.

The first fragments were discovered by Bedouins in the 1950s and 1960s in this "cave of horrors", so called for the many skeletons that were found there, explains Oren Ableman of the IAA.

In these new fragments, "we have seen a completely unexpected textual change, which we still cannot fully explain," Ableman told AFP.

"Instead of the word 'gates', which is found in all the other fragments, the word 'streets' appears."

Archaeologists are trying to find the meaning of this variation, he adds.

To carry out this archaeological operation, which extended to the part of the Judean Desert located in the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, the AIA made available to archaeologists drones and mountain equipment, including ropes for rappelling.

- Looting -

In addition to the pieces of parchment, the operation uncovered rare pieces dating back to the Jewish revolt of Bar Kokhba against the Romans (132-136 AD), but also a mummified child skeleton aged 6,000. years old and draped in fabric, as well as a 10,500-year-old woven basket, probably the oldest in the world, the AIA estimates.

The basket has been remarkably preserved thanks to the very dry environment of the desert, explains archaeologist Chaïm Cohen to AFP.

"People hid it here so that they could preserve it and recover it a year, or ten years later," he says, saying he "trembled for days" after the basket was discovered.

Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls over 60 years ago in the caves of Qumran, the rock cavities of the Judean Desert have become the targets of antiquity looters.

These 900 manuscripts are considered one of the most important archaeological finds as they include religious texts in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, and the earliest known Old Testament version.

However, this new discovery "could make it possible to deepen the history of the translation of the Bible into Greek", according to Yosef Garfinkel, director of the Archaeological Institute of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

For Israel Hasson, director of the AIA which exhibits these objects in his laboratory located in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the initiative launched in 2017 aims to "save these rare and important heritage assets from the clutches of thieves."

Israeli archaeologists believe the caves served as a refuge for Jews during the time of the Romans' destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 1970, and during Bar Kokhba's Jewish revolt against the Romans some 65 years later.

According to Avi Cohen, the director of the Jerusalem ministry and heritage who funded the excavations, the parchment and exhibits attest to the region's Jewish history and the "inseparable link between Jewish cultural activities and our place in this land." .

Archaeological finds are the subject of quarrels between Palestinians and Israelis, the latter sometimes being accused of wanting to justify territorial claims in the West Bank.

Contacted by AFP, the Palestinian authorities in charge of antiquities declined to comment immediately on these discoveries in the West Bank.

© 2021 AFP