Protons For Studying The Dead Sea Scrolls

Ufficio Comunicazione Infn ^ | Friday, July 2, 2010 | INFN

[SunkenCiv]

...The analyses, which were conducted by INFN physicists in collaboration with researchers from IBAM-CNR, have revealed that one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, in particular, the Temple Scroll (which is not part of the biblical narration and instead describes the construction and life of a temple and dictates how laws are to be communicated to the people), may have been made near the Dead Sea, in the area of Qumran, where the scrolls were found. In other words, the scrolls may have been created locally...

At the LANDIS laboratory (one of the INFN laboratories in Catania), non-destructive analyses were performed to obtain results on the origin of the scrolls. To produce a scroll, which was the writing material used at the time, a great quantity of water is needed. By analysing water samples taken in the area where the scrolls were found, the presence of certain chemical elements was established, and the ratio of their concentrations was determined. The ratio of chlorine to bromine in the fragments of the Temple Scroll was then analysed using proton beams of 1.3 MeV, produced by the Tandem particle accelerator at the INFN National Laboratories of the South. According to this analysis, the ratio of chlorine to bromine in the scroll is consistent with the ratio in local water sources. In other words, this finding supports the hypothesis that the scroll was created in the area in which it was found. The next step in the research will be to analyse the ink used to write the scrolls.

[SunkenCiv]

here's the BibArch teaser that led me there:

• Protons and Particle Accelerator Illuminate Dead Sea Scrolls Origin -- Friday, July 9, 2010 -- Biblical Archaeology Review -- Scientists from Italy's National Institute for Nuclear Physics may have identified the origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found along the Dead Sea in a cave near Qumran, but the question has remained as to where the scrolls were actually created. Recent tests using a new technique with protons known as "XPIXE" in combination with a particle accelerator support the hypothesis that the Dead Sea Scrolls were made near the Dead Sea, in the area of Qumran, where the scrolls were found. Since a large amount of water would have been used when making the scroll material, researchers compared a sample of water from the local area to a small fragment of the Temple Scroll. The analysis shows that the ratio of chemicals in the local water match with the ratio of chemicals from the tested scroll fragment.

[SunkenCiv]

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[JoeProBono]

If CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) can create Higgs bosons, a handful may appear in rare "exclusive" reactions that don't destroy the colliding protons--similar to a reaction now observed at Fermilab