DNA Helps Scholars Understand Dead Sea Scrolls
2020-06-07
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1An international team of scientists has successfully decoded ancient DNA from animal skin on which some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were written.
2The first of the 2000 year old religious documents were found in 1947 in a cave near Qumran, about 20 kilometers east of Jerusalem.
3Scientists since have gathered more than 25,000 pieces of writing on skin and ancient paper in the caves and other sites in the Judean Desert.
4The University of Tel Aviv, the Israeli government and experts from Uppsala University in Sweden and Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City carried out DNA tests over seven years.
5They identified the kind of animal skins used for the documents.
6The finding will help experts to establish real scrolls from fakes.
7Many experts believe the scrolls were made by a small Jewish group called the Essenes.
8The Essenes had separated from the more traditional Jewish religion and were very secretive.
9However, other experts argue that several people from different groups wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls.
10Those experts believe the scrolls were gathered together and put in the cave to keep them safe during a time of conflict.
11The DNA tests show that the animal skin used for the writings was mainly from sheep common to the desert area.
12But, there were also some cow skin documents.
13The scientists say this suggests some documents may have been created in a city like Jerusalem, where cow raising was more common.
14Jews built a major religious center in the then Roman-ruled city around 2,500 years ago.
15"The biological material of which the scrolls are made, is as telling and as informative as the content of the text," said researcher Noam Mizrahi.
16He is a professor of Bible studies at Tel Aviv University.
17Study at the DNA laboratory in Uppsala showed the two versions of the document called the Book of Jeremiah were on cow skin.
18The scientists say the finding shows that these two documents were brought to Qumran from outside.
19They say the different versions also suggest that the understanding of Jewish religious writings differed.
20Mizrahi said the Jewish community during the Second Temple appears to have been more diverse in religious understanding than researchers once thought.
21The team of scientists tested extremely small pieces, even dust, of the scrolls.
22They say the same process could be used in the future to identify fake scrolls, like those found at The Museum of the Bible in Washington.
23Museum officials removed the documents in 2018, after discovering they were false.
24I'm Susan Shand.
1An international team of scientists has successfully decoded ancient DNA from animal skin on which some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were written. 2The first of the 2000 year old religious documents were found in 1947 in a cave near Qumran, about 20 kilometers east of Jerusalem. Scientists since have gathered more than 25,000 pieces of writing on skin and ancient paper in the caves and other sites in the Judean Desert. 3The University of Tel Aviv, the Israeli government and experts from Uppsala University in Sweden and Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City carried out DNA tests over seven years. They identified the kind of animal skins used for the documents. The finding will help experts to establish real scrolls from fakes. 4Many experts believe the scrolls were made by a small Jewish group called the Essenes. The Essenes had separated from the more traditional Jewish religion and were very secretive. 5However, other experts argue that several people from different groups wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls. Those experts believe the scrolls were gathered together and put in the cave to keep them safe during a time of conflict. 6The DNA tests show that the animal skin used for the writings was mainly from sheep common to the desert area. But, there were also some cow skin documents. The scientists say this suggests some documents may have been created in a city like Jerusalem, where cow raising was more common. Jews built a major religious center in the then Roman-ruled city around 2,500 years ago. 7"The biological material of which the scrolls are made, is as telling and as informative as the content of the text," said researcher Noam Mizrahi. He is a professor of Bible studies at Tel Aviv University. 8Study at the DNA laboratory in Uppsala showed the two versions of the document called the Book of Jeremiah were on cow skin. The scientists say the finding shows that these two documents were brought to Qumran from outside. They say the different versions also suggest that the understanding of Jewish religious writings differed. 9Mizrahi said the Jewish community during the Second Temple appears to have been more diverse in religious understanding than researchers once thought. 10The team of scientists tested extremely small pieces, even dust, of the scrolls. They say the same process could be used in the future to identify fake scrolls, like those found at The Museum of the Bible in Washington. Museum officials removed the documents in 2018, after discovering they were false. 11I'm Susan Shand. 12The Reuters News Agency reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. 13_______________________________________________________________ 14Words in This Story 15decode - v. to figure out an unknown language or system 16fake - adj. not real, a copy 17text - n. the written words