Ancient Biblical Scroll Unwrapped with New Scanning Technology (VIDEO)

First Posted: Jul 27, 2015 07:27 AM EDT

For the first time ever, scientists are able to read a damaged scroll that is at least 1,500 years old and was discovered inside the Holy Ark of the synagogue at Ein Gedi in Israel. High-resolution scanning allowed the researchers to virtually unwrap the scroll and see inside the beginning of the Book of Leviticus.

"The text revealed today from the Ein Gedi scroll was possible only because of the collaboration of many different people and technologies," said Brent Seales, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The last step of virtual unwrapping, done at the University of Kentucky through the hard work of a team to talented students, is especially satisfying because it has produced readable, identifiable, biblical text from a scroll thought to be beyond rescue."

The parchment scroll was unearthed in 1970 in archaeological excavations in the synagogue at Ein Gedi. However, because of its charred condition, researchers have been unable to either preserve or decipher it. That's when advanced technology came in.

The Lunder Family Dead Sea Scrolls Conservation Center used advanced technologies to preserve the document. Part of the scroll itself is from the beginning of the Book of Leviticus, written in Hebrew, and dated by C14 analysis to the late sixth century B.C. This makes it the most ancient scroll from the five books of the Hebrew Bible to be found since the Dead Sea scrolls.

In this case, a software prototype virtually unwrapped the surfaces from within volumetric scans. This unwrapping process allowed the visualization of evidence of writing on a surface from within a scanned volume. Because the surfaces of the object are not flat like a book, the visualization of the surface and the evidence of writing upon the surface is a complex process.

The findings have already revealed several versus of the Book of Leviticus. Currently, researchers are looking forward to seeing even more.

Want to learn more? Check out the video below, courtesy of YouTube.