Google makes 5 Dead Sea Scrolls searchable

cnn blog ^ | September 26, 2011

[NYer]

Jerusalem (CNN) – In a perfect blending of 21st-century advances with the cutting-edge technology of an earlier age, starting this week internet users can, for the first time, use Google search and scanning technology to examine five manuscripts from the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Google and the Israel Museum unveiled the project Monday in Jerusalem with the launch of a museum website that allows users to interact with the ancient texts in a way impossible just a few years ago.

"You have the capability with high-resolution definition to look at the scrolls in a comfortable setting - to enlarge them, to magnify them, to translate them into English and to search for words, phrases or verses that you want to find on your own," said James Snyder, director of the Israel Museum. "It really allows for your own interactive research with the material."

Made up of 30,000 fragments from 900 manuscripts, the Dead Sea Scrolls are considered by many historians to be one of the most important archaeological finds ever made.

The ancient manuscripts, made of leather, papyrus and copper, were first discovered in 1947 by a nomadic shepherd in a cave near the Dead Sea. In the years that followed, more scroll fragments were located.

Dating back over 2,000 years, the scrolls reveal details about the development of Judaism during the Hellenistic period and shed light on the relationship between early Christian and Jewish religious traditions.

The Israel Museum is home to eight of the manuscripts that are considered to be among the most complete and best preserved. Snyder said the museum and Google began working on the project six months ago.

"It's becoming a much more simple process than it used to be," Snyder explained. "With camera technology today, to do this kind of high-resolution imagery is not that difficult."

[NYer]

The most important of the museum's manuscripts, known as the Great Isaiah Scroll, contains the oldest known written text of the Bible. On the new museum internet site users can search the scroll with keywords. Clicking on the Hebrew text pulls up English translations of every verse.

Ping!

[DManA]

Can’t find a link.

[DTA]

I was quite surprised when learned the name of the shepherd who found the scrolls. I knew that name from Herbert's Dune trilogy.

I wonder how many undecipehered clues are still around us...

[thackney]

The Digital Dead Sea Scrolls
http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/

[Former Fetus]

Try here

[DManA]

Thank you.

[keats5]

Amazing. Check out the Isaiah scroll. As you hoover your curser over each verse you can read the translation in English.

[elcid1970]

The atheists aren’t gonna like this.

The harder they try to libel the Bible as a book of fiction, the harder the Word of G-d turns around and bites them you-know-where.

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Thanks NYer. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[Outlaw Woman]

Is this the same topic which was pinged to you yesterday? Just curious...

[SunkenCiv]

If so, I missed it. [blush]

[SunkenCiv]

• 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls go online
• Dead Sea scrolls going digital on Internet
• Dead Sea Scrolls to Hit the Internet
• Israel to Put Dead Sea Scrolls on the Internet

[Domestic Church]

I was just cyber chatting about the inability of schools to stifle prayer - it happens spontaneously - and the other Mom had seen someething about this recently but she didn’t mention it at all - it was in the back of her mind today and I just presented the link to her.