New Old Scrolls
It only consists of two fragments an inch or so long, but the new find has been hailed as "one of the most important Biblical finds from the region in half a century". The scraps of animal skin were found by Beduin in a cave near the Dead Sea and the Hebrew writing on them consists of a quote from the book of Leviticus about the exodus of Israel from Egypt. The Bedu asked $US20,000 for his find but after bargaining accepted $US3,000.
Professor Eshel from the Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv, who is an authority on such finds, said that scholars have been frustrated because no such finds had been made for the last forty years and this discovery give them new hope. It encourages them to believe that there are still more scrolls waiting to be found.
These fragments were discovered in a a canyon near the Dead Sea settlement of Ein Gedi, used as a Jewish hideout from the Romans during the revolt in the second century AD. Professor Eshel first saw the documents in 2004 when the Bedu showed them to him with the idea of getting an evaluation on them. Eshel himself has spent countless days scouring the desert in search of scroll material but had just about abandoned any hope of finding anything, until a wandering Beduin stumbled across the find in August last year.
Unfortunately the Bedu had no idea about its preservation and glued the pieces together and wrapped them in aluminium foil, causing considerable damage to the precious fragments. They had already suffered damage by being left on the floor of the cave and covered with bat droppings.
The second revolt against the Romans in AD 135 resulted in defeat for the Jewish people. The Jews succeeded in killing some 10,000 Romans, but Rome retaliated by destroyed 900 Jewish towns, recapturing Jerusalem and banning all Jews from the city. In an attempt to preserve this manuscript, its ancient owner hid it in the cave.
