EIN GEDI AND THE ANCIENT TORAH SCROLL
Recently archaeologists in Israel were able to decipher a fragment of an ancient Torah scroll which is now the second oldest Biblical manuscript in existence. The newly deciphered scroll comes from the 6th century synagogue at Ein Gedi, a desert oasis located on the shores of the Dead Sea. It is mentioned in the Bible as the site where David famously spared King Saul's life as well as in the Song of Songs. The ancient Jewish community of Ein Gedi invested large sums to build a magnificent synagogue which contained several Torah scrolls all of which were destroyed in a fire in the 6th century. All that remains today of these scrolls are small charred nuggets of parchment.
CT SCANS OF THE BOOK LEVITICUS
Archaeologists had no way of reading these until now. Using cutting age CT scanners, they are finally able to decipher the writing: the opening eight verses of the Book of Leviticus, which begins with the word ויקרא: "The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting." (Lev 1:1). Interestingly, the word called also means read in Hebrew. This is remarkable. Modern scholars were able to easily read the words as though they were written today. This is because the original Hebrew text found in this ancient scroll is identical to the Hebrew text used today.
ACCESS THE ORIGINAL WORDS AND
MEANINGS OF THE BIBLE
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