Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post Sixteen fragments in the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC are not from the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls but elaborate fakes, it has emerged.
Despite the fact that they were purchased for millions of dollars, they have now been exposed as worthless forgeries probably made from old shoe leather.
However, the hoaxers did such a good job that even scholars of the scrolls – which were found in 1946 and are priceless fragments of the Hebrew bible – were taken in.
The actual scrolls – 100,000 fragments of which are in Jerusalem – are one of the most significant archaeological finds of all time
Report
A report released at the weekend revealed that “after an exhaustive review of all the imaging and scientific analysis results, it is evident that none of the textual fragments in [the] Museum of the Bible’s Dead Sea Scroll collection are authentic”.
The forgers are believed to have used Roman-era leather, possibly from boots or sandals, to imitate parchment, and attempted to recreate the handwriting of ancient Hebrew scribes.