How forgers fooled the Bible museum with fake Dead Sea Scroll fragments

On the fourth floor of the Museum of the Bible, a sweeping permanent exhibit tells the story of how the ancient scripture became the world’s most popular book. A warmly lit sanctum at the exhibit’s heart reveals some of the museum’s most prized possessions: fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient texts that include the oldest known surviving copies of the Hebrew Bible.

But now, the Washington, D.C. museum has confirmed a bitter truth about the fragments’ authenticity. On Friday, independent researchers funded by the Museum of the Bible announced that all 16 of the museum’s Dead Sea Scroll fragments are modern forgeries that duped outside collectors, the museum’s founder, and some of the world’s leading biblical scholars. Officials unveiled the findings at an academic conference hosted by the museum.

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Wow, who would have known?

Most of the 100,000 real Dead Sea Scroll fragments are displayed in Jerusalem at the Israel Museum’s Shrine of the Book. They were discovered in the Qumran caves in the West Bank in 1947 and are considered the most important historical discovery about the Hebrew Bible. “That pushed our knowledge of the biblical text back one thousand years from what was available at the time,” said Jeffrey Kloha, the Museum of the Bible’s chief curatorial officer.

haaretz.co m

Guess its time to rewrite those old books... again!

ETA: Changed title

a reply to: kloejen

The title of your thread is misleading. If you've actually read the report it specifically said:

The new findings don’t cast doubt on the 100,000 real Dead Sea Scroll fragments, most of which lie in the Shrine of the Book, part of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. However, the report’s findings raise grave questions about the “post-2002” Dead Sea Scroll fragments, a group of some 70 snippets of biblical text that entered the antiquities market in the 2000s. Even before the new report, some scholars believed that most to all of the post-2002 fragments were modern fakes.

"... the report’s findings raise grave questions about the “post-2002” Dead Sea Scroll fragments, a group of some 70 snippets of biblical text that entered the antiquities market in the 2000s"..

Your title is misleading and false.

a reply to: kloejen

Guess you'll never be able to deny the truth of those old books.

a reply to: kloejen

Fairlycertain it was just the ones the Hobby Lobby guy spent millions on that were found to be fakes. The ones in Jerusalem are still believed to be authentic as far as I know.

originally posted by: visitedbythem
Your title is misleading and false.

Corrected.

I was reading a few different news articles on this, and took the title from there. My bad.

originally posted by: kloejen

originally posted by: visitedbythem
Your title is misleading and false.

Corrected.

I was reading a few different news articles on this, and took the title from there. My bad.

No you didn’t correct it, you still say the fooled the bible museum in the headline when the bible museum said they thought the post 2002 scrolls were fake

I doubt you read any articles, nothing like what you are implying
Trying to make it sound as if all the Dead Sea scrolls are fake, slightly disingenuous

a reply to: kloejen

Umm, they discovered that the 16 fragments that they purchased, were fakes.

There are still over 100,000 fragments that aren't part of the scam.

a reply to: kloejen
In all fairness, these fragments fooled some of the best minds in the field. To their credit, it was the bible museum that called in experts to examine the fragments and determine their authenticity.

It just shows that even the most learned scholars and collectors can be deceived, and this is not by any means the first time something like this has happened, but advancements in technology have made it harder over time to pull off a scam like this.

I think credit should be given where it's due. The museum has been relatively forthcoming and transparent during this fiasco from what I've read, and is considering having some other artifacts checked as well.

a reply to: Klassified

Actually, this is almost certainly the work of the aboutamm brothers, famous forgers from Egypt who are actually wanted in several countries for their fraudulent activities. While the Bible museum may have been an easy target, so was National Geographic, who paid for "the gospel of Judas "in 2006. It was an obvious forgery, written with iron all ink about 300 years too early, on papyrus that was beginning to flake. The only time papyrus flakes is when it is washed with an acid, to dissolve the existing ink.

From the photos I've seen in the papers, of these "dead sea scrolls fragments,". They are also in terrible shape, like the leather's been treated with acid.

It wasn't that experts were fooled. More like the publicity departments of greedy ostensibly not-for-profit institutions were fooled

a reply to: Graysen

Actually, this is almost certainly the work of the aboutamm brothers, famous forgers from Egypt who are actually wanted in several countries for their fraudulent activities. While the Bible museum may have been an easy target, so was National Geographic, who paid for "the gospel of Judas "in 2006. It was an obvious forgery, written with iron all ink about 300 years too early, on papyrus that was beginning to flake. The only time papyrus flakes is when it is washed with an acid, to dissolve the existing ink.

Sounds similar to what I read. These guys need a new occupation. Maybe they could do work for Hollywood movies. Probably won't pay as good as forgery though.

a reply to: Klassified

No article about the current emperor's new clothing mentions the Aboutaam's by name.

That's because the last news outlet that did got sued by THEM for libel: the Wall Street Journal.

a reply to: Klassified
Well that shroud of Turin has still got millions and millions confused and believing.
Probably one of the best con jobs ever
Or
Is it common knowledge it’s a fake but believers will believe to sooth themselves, irrespective

I doubt anyone looks at anything from pre history these days believing it’s going to be the real thing, so many forgeries and fakes.

Unfortunately many so-called Christians rarely read
their Bibles. So don't expect any to peruse the
documents.

The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English
have been out for a very long time.

If you desire Church members to keep
their faith, then by all means you best
steer them away.

a reply to: MrBlaq

"many so-called Christians rarely read their Bibles"

Links to proof, please. THX

originally posted by: MrBlaq
Unfortunately many so-called Christians rarely read
their Bibles. So don't expect any to peruse the
documents.

The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English
have been out for a very long time.

If you desire Church members to keep
their faith, then by all means you best
steer them away.

The Dead Sea scrolls are not written in English, I can’t read Hebrew, Paleo Hebrew so I guess you are right though the point of your complaint eludes me

The complete Dead Sea scrolls, what?
What are you saying, not sure
The Dead Sea scrolls are for the most part Old Testament books and they are the same as the books already canonised.
Do you know what you are talking about?
Not sure your trail of logic is valid

As for Christians reading their bibles, denying them reading it.
I agree, most don’t but the church encourages reading the bible
It’s the principle calling in most churches
But I guess you know better because, well how do you know better?
Care to explain

a reply to: Raggedyman

Tries not to laugh. I can't read Hebrew, yet I've
read it several times.

This edition is over 17 years old..

The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible: The Oldest Known Bible Translated for the First Time into English
by Martin G. Abegg, Peter Flint,

The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English: Seventh Edition (Penguin Classics)
by Geza Vermes

The Dead Sea Scrolls have much much more than the 66 Books
in your Holy Bible. It's contains dozens of other books
not found in your Bible.

a reply to: MrBlaq

What, Ike Macabees Jasher, Enoch, other Hebrew historical writing, really, no kidding

Ceremonial and legal books, other more mundane stuff that wasn’t canonised. Great reading but not what would have been canonised or relevant.

Go read them, see why they are not really important

a reply to: Raggedyman

There are over 150 books in the Dead Sea Scrolls,
outside of the traditional books of the Bible, and
the Apocrypha books you just named.

This make twice you've made a fool of yourself.

Next time, use a little common sense and just
use Amazon. You can actually see what books
are cataloged in the English Translation.

And yes, you remind me of the typical
Christians that's too lazy to read, as
you've done here.

The real issue is you're trying to comment
on a subject from pure ignorance.

a reply to: MrBlaq

“Other Hebrew historical writings”
Yeah, ceremonial books and such
Hardly relevant

Embarrassing or not MB, the books you claim are important to my faith and must read are quite irrelevant

Though in all fairness, a bible scholar, theologian, they most certainly have some value, a mere Christian, living struggling with life and its vagrancies, hardly