Posted on 12/11/2010 8:43:36 PM PST by SunkenCiv
An intact, sealed, jar has been discovered at Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in nearby caves.
A multinational team of scientists have been analyzing the jar and their findings are set to be published in the journal Archaeometry. If you have a subscription (or access to a library with one) you can already see the article on the publication's website...
Altogether nine scientists are credited in the paper. Kaare Lund Rasmussen, of the University of Southern Denmark, is listed at the lead author.
The jar itself was excavated in 2004. It was found about 50 meters south of Qumran in an uninhabited area that may have been used for agriculture. Animal bones and pottery shards were unearthed nearby. The group that found it was led by Randall Price of Liberty University and Oren Gutfeld of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem...
"The intact jar, named Jar-35, was sealed with an overturned bowl fastened as a lid," Rasmussen's team writes. "When the lid was lifted and a camera lowered into the interior, a deposit up to 3 cm thick was discovered lining the bottom and the sides."
...One of the techniques uses x-rays to search for crystalline material -- the test succeeded in identifying a substance. "Based on this analysis, it is evident that the only significant crystalline phase in the deposit is gypsum," the scientists write.
Also found in the jar was a small amount of charcoal. They were able to radiocarbon date it, determining that the coal was used sometime between 100 BC and AD 15, a period when Qumran would have been inhabited.
(Excerpt) Read more at unreportedheritagenews.com ...
Maybe they used it to store gypsum
GGG self-ping.
By the way, inside the jar is a gospel, a genie, or garum. Did anyone see an expiration date? No.
Must be a House cat—I see it’s got its mind on controlling the purse. Like the seal on the Jar as well-it suggests a patriot lives there.
It says “Refrigerate after opening. Best if used before 100 AD.”
It says made in China
I agree with you...
The gypsum definitely works, but not indefinitely, it’s what the Nabataeans used to line their cisterns. And, it had the great virtue of being readily available. :’)
:’)
It’s got nothin’ much inside it, alas.
[sighs]
Mmm, my mom used to can cat.
You’re papyri right to post that.
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