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Nearly two years after it said fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls were fake, a museum in the U.S. said that none of the fragments are real.
“After an exhaustive review of all the imaging and scientific analysis results, it is evident that none of the textual fragments in Museum of the Bible’s Dead Sea Scroll collection are authentic,” Colette Loll, founder and director of Art Fraud Insights, said in a statement. “Moreover, each exhibits characteristics that suggest they are deliberate forgeries created in the twentieth century with the intent to mimic authentic Dead Sea Scroll fragments.”
Sections of the Dead Sea Scrolls on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem in 2008. (Baz Ratner, Reuters)
DEAD SEA SCROLL FRAGMENTS DISCOVERED TO BE ‘FAKES’ AT THE MUSEUM OF THE BIBLE
The researchers looked at the 16 fragments that were believed to be a part of the famous scrolls and analyzed them with traditional and 3-D microscopy to make their determination.
A subset of the scrolls was analyzed using their elemental and molecular profiles, using a number of tools, including Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, macro x-ray fluorescence imaging, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive x-ray analysis, micro-Raman spectroscopy and microchemical testing.
The artifacts were purchased by billionaire Steve Green, who is the chairman of the Museum of the Bible. He donated them to the museum in 2017.
According to The Sun, the fragments were likely created using ancient shoe leather, citing Art Fraud Insights, which analyzed the fragments.
DEAD SEA SCROLLS DISCOVERY: OBSCURE FRAGMENTS DECIPHERED
In October 2018, the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. also confirmed that five of its 16 Dead Sea Scroll fragments are fakes.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a continued source of fascination. The first fragments were discovered in 1946 and 1947 in the Qumran caves in the Judean desert.
Further scrolls were found in subsequent years, up to 1956. In total, 1,000 ancient religious manuscripts were discovered.
The delicate fragments of parchment and papyrus were preserved for 2,000 years thanks to the dark, dry conditions in the caves.
In 2018, researchers at the University of Haifa announced that they have translated one of the last two parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Fox News' James Rogers contributed to this story.
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