Dead Sea Scroll Fragments Being Sold In The U.S. Are Probably Fake
A question mark hangs over the authenticity of what are supposedly fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls circulating in the U.S.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are an ancient collection of texts that include fragments from every book of the Old Testament except for the Book of Esther. Experts believe they were written between 150 B.C. and 70 A.D. They were discovered in 12 caves outside Jerusalem beginning in the late 1940s, according to History.
Recently, 28 Dead Sea Scroll fragments surfaced in the U.S., and the number appears to be rising, Live Science reported.
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Now, antiquities experts are wondering whether the fragments are authentic or modern-day forgeries. Their doubts spring from the discovery that counterfeiters have managed to make expert handwritings on scrolls that are as high quality as the original. These counterfeiters reportedly used the blank parchments that were found alongside the originals discovered in the caves.
According to National Geographic, for the past 15 years Dead Sea Scroll fragments offered for sale on the private art market have risen in number.
"Many of the fragments that entered the market since 2002 appear to be forged," said Lawrence Schiffman, professor of Hebrew and Judaic studies at New York University and an authority on the scrolls.
Many of the fragments now in the U.S. were sold by unidentified people who claimed that they were once owned by antiquities dealer Khalil Iskander Shahin, according to Live Science.
However, Shanin's son William Kando pointed out that the number of fragments now in America does not match the number of scrolls and fragments their family actually sold. For instance, one seller claimed that he purchased 15 fragments from the Kando family in 2002. But Kando said they sold only seven during that year.
Of the 28 fragments now in the U.S., nine can be found in Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas while four are at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California. The other 15 fragments were recently sold through a company called Les Enluminures on behalf of an anonymous seller. They are now in an undisclosed U.S. institution, according to Live Science.
In February this year, Israel's Hebrew University announced the discovery of another cave in the Judean desert where some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found—the first such discovery in 60 years. Previous to that, the Dead Sea Scrolls were found only in 11 caves.
According to BBC News, storage jars, fragments of scroll wrapping, and other artifacts connected to the scrolls were found at the site. However, the scrolls themselves were missing. Scholars believe they were looted by Bedouins in the area in the 1950s.
Israel has taken great care to protect the artifacts, a group of scholars told Fox News.
"The last time we were in Israel, our friend and fellow Bible scholar, Adlfo Roitman, curator of the Shrine of the Book, gave us a behind-the-scenes-tour of the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. What we can divulge is that in the event of a nuclear holocaust, the Dead Sea Scrolls in their collection would survive, so advanced is their security technology and infrastructure," the scholars said.
