Many Dead Sea Rolls could be older than thought, suggests a new study. In 1947. Since then, archaeologists have collected thousands of fragments of what is considered hundreds of manuscripts in caves in what is now the West Bank of Palestine. They contain the first known texts of the Hebrew Bible. “The Dead Sea rolls were extremely important when they were discovered, because they completely changed our way of thinking of ancient Judaism and primitive Christianity”, Popović, who is also dean of the Faculty of Religion, Culture and Society at the University of Groningen in Paylanders, told Jacopo Proco for CNN. “They gave us a lot of information on what the text looked like at the time.” Popović says that the rollers are like a time machine because they can reveal what people were reading, wrote and thought at the time. “These are physical and tangible evidence of a period of history that is crucial-whether you are a Christian, Jewish or do not believe at all, because the Bible is one of the most influential books in world history, so that parchments allow us to study it as a form of cultural evolution,” he said. In almost none of the Dead Sea rolls has been written on them. The researchers previously believed that the manuscripts had been written from the third century BC in the second century AD. “But now, with our project, we have to go out with certain manuscripts at the end of the fourth century BCE,” said Popović. This means that the first rollers could be up to 100 years older than we thought. But some manuscripts were treated with castor oil in the 1950s to try to preserve them, which interferes with the carbon dating process. The team therefore used a new carbon dating to date certain manuscripts, then formed an AI program called Enoch on these results. To test the program, they gave the AI 135 manuscripts without dates. He agreed with the estimates that the researchers made 79% of the time. “With the Enoch tool, we have opened a new door to the ancient world, like a time machine, which allows us to study the hands that wrote the Bible,” Popović said in a statement. “Especially now that we have established, for the first time, that two fragments of biblical scrolling come from the moment of their alleged authors.” Other scientists reacted to the results with a more prudent perspective. “The results of this study are very interesting and probably important, but not from the Earth Science in an email.” Most of the conclusions of this article also agree with what the big paleographers in the field, such as the late Frank Moore Cross, had already declared more than 60 years ago. “He added that the Popović declaration that technology allows researchers to” study the hands “was” Less, the raw hyperbola “. No manuscript of the Hebrew Bible dates from the first period of the temple (around 1200 to 586 BC), when the Bible was originally composed, or to the first parts of the second temple period (538 BC), he said.” He said. “The machines can be useful to isolate the characteristics of a script, but the presence of a gifted paleograph is At least as precious as an automatic learning tool. “Brent Seales, IT teacher at the University of Kentucky, who was not involved in the study, told CNN in an e-mail that the approach adopted by the authors seemed rigorous, even if it uses a small sample size. It has agreed that AI should be used with caution, adding that” as a good wine, ” Time and with more samples ”.
Many Dead Sea Rolls could be older than we thought, suggests a new study.
According to Mladen Popović, the main author of the report published in Plos One, the analysis used both traditional radiocarbon dating and the new artificial intelligence to date biblical manuscripts at around 2,300 years old, CNN reports.
The scrolls were first noticed by Bedouin shepherds in the Judea desert, which has been near the Dead Sea, in 1947. Since then, archaeologists have collected thousands of fragments of what would be hundreds of manuscripts in caves in what is now the West Bank of Palestine. They contain the first known texts of the Hebrew Bible.
“Dead sea rolls were extremely important when they were discovered because they completely changed our way of thinking of ancient Judaism and early Christianity,” said Popović, who is also dean of the Faculty of Religion, Culture and Society at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands ,, told Jacopo Prisco for CNN. “They gave us a lot of information about what the text looked like at the time.”
Popović says that the rollers are like a time machine because they can reveal what people read, wrote and thought at the time.
“These are physical and tangible evidence of a period of history that is crucial-whether you are a Christian, Jewish or do not believe at all, because the Bible is one of the most influential books in world history, so parchments allow us to study it as a form of cultural evolution,” he said.
Almost none of the dead sea rolls were written about them. The scholars previously thought that the manuscripts had been written from the third century BC in the second century AD.
“But now, with our project, we have already dated certain manuscripts until the end of the fourth century BCE,” said Popović. This means that the first rollers could be up to 100 years older than we thought before.
Carbon dating is often used to identify the age of documents like these. But some manuscripts were treated with castor oil in the 1950s to try to preserve them, which interferes with the carbon dating process. The team therefore used a new carbon dating to date certain manuscripts, then formed an AI program called Enoch on these results.
To test the program, they gave the AI 135 manuscripts without dates. He agreed with the estimates that the researchers made 79% of the time.
“With the Enoch tool, we have opened a new door to the ancient world, like a time machine, which allows us to study the hands that wrote the Bible,” Popović said in a statement. “Especially now that we have established, for the first time, that two fragments of biblical scrolling come from the moment of their alleged authors.”
Other scientists reacted to the results with a more prudent perspective.
“The results of this study are very interesting and probably important, but not overwhelming,” said Christopher Rollston, professor and president of biblical languages and civilizations and the Middle East at George Washington University, told Ben Turner at Live Science in an email. “Most of the conclusions of this article also undertake what great paleographers in the field, such as the late Frank Moore Cross, had already declared more than 60 years ago.”
He added that Popović’s statement that technology allows researchers to “study the hands that wrote the Bible” was “at the very least, the raw hyperbole”.
No manuscript of the Hebrew Bible dates from the first period of the temple (around 1200 to 586 BCE), when the Bible was originally composed, or to the first parts of the second temple period (538 BCE), he said.
Rollston has also said that AI should only be used to complete human tools in work like this.
“Human writing, and all its variations and idiosyncratic characteristics, is a deeply human thing,” he said. “Machines can be useful to isolate the characteristics of a script, but the presence of a gifted paleographer is at least as precious as an automatic learning tool.”
Brent Seles, professor of former IT students at the University of Kentucky, who was not involved in the study, told CNN in an email that the approach adopted by the authors seemed rigorous, even if it uses a small sample size. He agreed that AI should be used with caution, adding that “like a good wine, it should improve over time and with more samples”.
