Israel unveiled a found Bible manuscript …

Israel unveiled fragments of 2,000-year-old Bible scroll on Tuesday discovered in the Judean Desert, in the south of the country. It is a “historic” find and one of the most important since the Dead Sea Scrolls.

“For the first time in about 60 years, archaeological excavations have uncovered fragments of a Bible scroll,” the Israel Antiquities Authority (AAI) said in a statement.

The fragments, written in Greek, have made it possible to reconstruct passages from the books of Zechariah and Nahum, which are part of the Book of Twelve Little Prophets of the Bible, according to Israeli researchers.

The manuscripts were found during excavations in a cliffside cave in Nahal Hever Nature Reserve, as part of a campaign against the looting of heritage.

Archaeologists worked with drones and mountain gear, which included ropes for rappelling. Its task was concentrated in the area of ​​the Judean Desert located in the West Bank, territory occupied by Israel since 1967.

In addition to the parchment fragments, Objects dating from Bar Kokhba’s Jewish revolt against the Romans (132-136 AD) have been found, along with a 6,000-year-old mummified child skeleton. wrapped in cloth and a 10,500-year-old basket, possibly the oldest in the world, the IAA estimated.

Israel Hasson, director of the IAA and who exhibits the pieces in his laboratory at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, said the initiative launched in 2017 aims to “save these rare and important heritage pieces from the clutches of thieves.”

Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls over 70 years ago in the caves of Qumran, the rock caves of the Judean Desert have become the target of looters of antiquity.

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