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US Bible Museum's 'Dead Sea Scrolls' Found to be Fake

Zlatica Hoke

   WASHINGTON - One of the supposedly most valuable exhibits at the Museum
   of the Bible in Washingtonhas turned out to be fake.

   Experts have determined that 16waxy yellow fragmentssaid tobe remnants
   oftheDead Sea Scrollsare not part of an ancient Hebrew
   Bible,butratherforgeries.

   Therealancientscrolls werefirstfound in 1947 in Qumran caves near the
   Dead Sea shore. Theyare consideredto beone of the most significant
   historic discoveries of all timeand are kept in Israel.

   American billionaireSteve Greenacquired the fakesabout 10 years agofrom
   private collectorsto be one of the central exhibitsin his Bible
   museum,which opened in 2017.Scholarswere immediately suspicious of the
   authenticity of thescrolls, compelling the museum tosubmit
   theitemsforanalysisby more than one appraiser. Evidence that the
   scrolls were not authentic led the museum to hireArt Fraud Insightsfor
   expert analysisthat took six monthsand resulted in a 200-page report.

   "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," said the head of
   the investigation, Colette Loll of Art Fraud Insights.

   Scientists have found thatthe collectionof fragmentswasa set of
   deliberately made forgeries created in the 20thcentury with the intent
   to mimic the authenticDead Sea Scroll fragments. The forgers have
   usedmineral surface deposits consistent with Middle East archeological
   digsand usedsmall scraps of ancientleather, coated with an amber
   materialtocreatea surface withthe appearance of ancient parchment.

   Investigatorshavealso determined that the ink used on the fragments did
   not match the ink on the authentic scrolls.

   Thescientificreportnotesthat since 2002 the antiquities market has
   become floodedwith unknown textual fragments written in Hebrew or
   Aramaic, described as newly discovered biblical fragments.

   The 200-page report isaccessible fromthe museum's [1]web page.

References

   1. https://museumofthebible.org/dead-sea-scroll-fragments

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