Monday 26 September 2011

Israel Puts The Dead Sea Scrolls Online

The Great Isaiah Scroll
The Dead Sea Scrolls are one of the greatest archeological discoveries of the 20th century. Those who have visited the Shrine of the Book, in Jerusalem, come away in awe.

The outer building is designed to look like the top of the great scroll, and has streams of cooling water spraying continuously over it. Inside, it is cool, and the gold lights are very low~barely illuminating the fragile parchments as people slowly make their way around, speaking only in whispers (if at all) as they walk around the central "Isaiah Scroll" or study the various pieces on display. The displayed scroll is a copy, as the original is kept in a special climate controlled vault below ground.
Shrine of The Book


Now, thanks to The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and powered by Google technology people from around the world can  examine and search the scrolls without traveling to Jerusalem. It is now possible to go online and Examine the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The advantages to online viewing are many, as you can spend as much time as you want, examining, searching and if you are able--even translating the words from over 2,000 years ago. The Project Page provides full details~here is an excerpt:

The five Dead Sea Scrolls that have been digitized thus far include the Great Isaiah Scroll, the Community Rule Scroll, the Commentary on Habakkuk Scroll, the Temple Scroll, and the War Scroll, with search queries on Google.com sending users directly to the online scrolls. All five scrolls can be magnified so that users may examine texts in exacting detail. Details invisible to the naked eye are made visible through ultra-high resolution digital photography...
...In addition, the Great Isaiah Scroll may be searched by column, chapter, and verse, and is accompanied by an English translation tool and by an option for users to submit translations of verses in their own languages.


This is what Israel does best~discover, preserve, create and share with the world...


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