Qumran Excavation Story (it is true, that it is a story)

I ran across this story a few years ago and think some members might find it as interesting as I do.
This is a blog written in journal form, supposedly, by an archaeologist conducting a dig somewhere near Qumran. The dead sea scrolls were found in the hills near there. Since it is written like a journal, the story works better if you start with the older entries first. I'm not claiming this is a factual tale but some one devoted a bit of time and effort on it and when I first read it I hoped more entries would be added. They never came but I hope you enjoy the read.


qumranholyexcavation.blogspot.com...

a reply to: JohnthePhilistine

Interesting story but it's a blog and all date and time meta information (hidden in the page source) has been deleted out. Also, the particular template used for the page did not come into service until 2007, a year after this blog was purportedly posted.

I have been unable to find any Tariq Funsani on the web. All links in Google are to the linked blog. For a Professor of Archaeology, he is suspiciously anonymous.

Similarly, all references to the students and workers in the blog posts are only by first name.

There are references in the blog posts to Vendyl Jones, suggesting he was a major archaeologist in regard to Qumran, however the primary archaeologist at the site was Roland de Vaux, and that was in the '50's but by the late '60's the Qumran site was considered to have been fully explored. Dr Jones did head up excavations at Qumran in 1972, 1988 and 1992. The 1972 dig was fruitless but in 1988 he claimed to have discovered a jar of oil and in 1992 (allegedly) reserves of incense to be used in sacrifices in the temple, but doubt has been called upon the finding of the incense, having been suggested that it is just soil.

Also the WayBack Internet Archive has no record of any of the pages prior to April 3, 2013.

So, I'd call hoax.

a reply to: chr0naut

And then there's the curious fact that a Syrian born archaeologist wrote an entire blog in English with English colloquialisms and references that are culturally out of place and has an Egyptian surname sans opposed to a traditional Syrian surname.