03/16/2021 12:50 PM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 03/16/2021 12:50 PM
Israel unveiled fragments of a
2,000-year-old biblical scroll
discovered in the southern Judean desert on
Tuesday
.
The country's authorities
called the find "historic",
and one of the most important since the Dead Sea Scrolls.
"For the first time in about 60 years, archaeological excavations have uncovered fragments of a biblical scroll," the Israel Antiquities Authority (AAI) said in a statement.
Fragment of an ancient comb, which was also part of the discovery.
Photo: EFE
The fragments, written in Greek, made it possible to reconstruct passages from the books of Zacharias and Nahum, which are part of the book of the twelve minor prophets of the Bible, according to Israeli researchers, the AFP agency reported.
The manuscripts were found during excavations in a cave in a cliff in the Nahal Hever nature reserve, as part of a
campaign to combat the looting of heritage
.
The AAI provided the archaeologists with drones and mountain equipment, including abseiling ropes, in order to carry out the operation, which was extended to the part of the Judean desert located in the West Bank,
a territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
.
In addition to the parchment fragments, objects dating back to the Bar Kokhba Jewish revolt against the Romans (132-136 AD), as well as a 6,000-year-old cloth-wrapped mummified child skeleton and a 10,500-year-old basket were unearthed. ,
probably the oldest in the world
, the AAI estimated.
A basket from approximately 1500 years ago, also discovered in the excavation.
Photo: EFE
Israel Hasson, director of the AAI and who exhibits the pieces in his laboratory at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, said that the initiative launched in 2017 aims to "save these rare and important heritage pieces from the clutches of thieves."
Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls more than 70 years ago in the caves of Qumran, the rocky caves of the Judean desert have become
targets of antiquity looters
.
These 900 manuscripts are considered one of the
most important archaeological discoveries of all time
because they include religious texts in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, as well as the oldest known version of the Old Testament.
Source: agencies