Five fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls are fake

The Washington Bible Museum claims that five of its most valuable artefacts, all part of the historic Dead Sea Scrolls (also known as Wumran Scrolls), are fake and will no longer be exhibited.

] German academics examined the fragments and discovered that five "exhibit features that are incompatible with the ancient origin and will no longer be displayed in the museum."

"While we expect the tests to yield different results, it is an opportunity to educate the public on the importance of verifying the authenticity of rare biblical objects" told CNN Jeffrey Kloha, chief curator of the museum.

It is not known how much the Bible Museum paid for its falsified fragments, but the estimates reached millions.

Using 3D digital microscopy, X-ray fluorescence scanning (XRF) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. At the same time (EDX), the researchers badyzed the ink and sediments contained in the fragments. Specialists have indicated that counterfeiters use old papyrus or remnants of leather to make it more difficult to detect fraud. "Carbon dating is better, the old material can and has almost certainly been manipulated in modern times," said Paleographer Kipp Davis, a researcher at Trinity Western University.

According to the available evidence, there is a high probability that at least seven fragments of the museum's collection of manuscripts of the Dead Sea is a modern counterfeit.

"To date, my studies have successfully confirmed the preponderance of different sources of evidence of the high probability of at least seven fragments in the collection of Rollos del Mar The museum's dead are modern fakes, but findings on the status of the remaining fragments are still expected, "Davis said in a statement.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, a scattered collection of ancient manuscripts containing the oldest known text of the Hebrew Bible are particularly popular specimens in the field of Biblical archeology. The surviving fragments date back to the 3rd century a. C., but they were lost in history until a chance discovery in the 1940s, when shepherds from the West Bank found them hidden in a cave.