At first glance, this photo may not look like anything valuable or even something you would care to have around. But this woman is holding an invaluable piece of history in the little box.
In 1970, archaeologists found charred remains in a burnt out Holy Ark of a 7th century synagogue in Ein Gedi, by the Dead Sea.
However, it took until now for modern technology to reveal its contents.
Carbon dating had shown the burnt object to be from the 6th century. But reading its contents by regular CT scanning did not work. It took micro-CT scanners of Merkel Technology to make 3D diagrams that were usable. The data was given to a Computer Science professor at the University of Kentucky in the United States, who developed a new scanner. With a team of students, the text was “virtually unrolled” and its contents revealed. The newly gleaned information matched the first eight sentences of the Book of Leviticus.
The results of the new technology has all at Israel Antiquities Authority excited, as this is considered the biggest find since the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Part of a 6th century scroll of the Five Books of Moses, found in a burnt out 7th century synagogue, confirming a Jewish presence in the land after the destruction of the Second Temple, the week before Tisha B’Av, is that a random coincidence?
