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Space Age Techniques
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T

el Aviv — Photo-
graphic techniques de-
veloped in part by the
NASA space program in the
United States are now being
used for the first time at the
Israel Museum in Jerusalem
in order to decipher one of the
Dead Sea Scrolls, which has
never before been fully
decoded.
The scroll in question, one
of 800 that comprise the Dead
Sea Scrolls, is the Genesis-
Apocryphon Scroll. It
measures approximately
seven feet long and is in-
scribed in Aramaic, unlike
the overwhelming majority of
Dead Sea Scrolls, which are
written in Hebrew. The scroll
was one of seven originally
found inside cave No. 1 at
Qumran by a Bedouin
shepherd in 1947.
Of these seven scrolls, the
Genesis-Apocryphon Scroll is
the worst preserved. The bot-
tom of the scroll apparently
had been resting on the floor
of the cave, which most like-
ly exposed the lower one-third
of the scroll to dampness. At
the same time, the top third
of the scroll was dried out by
the accumulated effect of
2,000 years of desert climate.
"Part of the Genesis-
Apocryphon Scroll was lost
forever," according to James
Charlesworth, Princeton
Theological Seminary pro-
fessor of New Testament
languages, who is heading
the American research team.
The scroll "either melted
away on top, or crumbled on
the bottom. Due to the exten-
sive damage, Dead Sea Scroll
scholars in the 1950s
despaired of ever being able to
translate this particular
scroll," he says.
The system itself, called
"image enhancement," was
essentially pioneered by
NASA engineer Don Lynn,
head of the space agency's
Uranus Fly-by Project.
A very rudimentary
description of the technique:
After extensive photography
involving special film, finish-
ed data is fed into computers,
which basically "connect the
dots." In other words, the com-
puters are capable of fleshing-
out letters, words and com-
plete lines which are so
minute and obscure that the
human eye is incapable of
deciphering them.
Moreover, the computer is
able to recover those images
that scribes 2,000 years ago
erased and wrote over. In

short, the same "space-age
technology" that is being
used to photograph inorganic
and living matter on other
planets is now being used to
decipher the original
language of priceless
documents from over 2,000
years ago.

While nearly all of the 800
Dead Sea Scrolls are at the
Israel and Rockefeller
museums, only eight are ac-
tually on display at the Israel
Museum's Shrine of the Book.
Most of the others are kept in
nearby vaults, where climate
conditions are regulated in
such a way as to minimize
damage to the fragile scroll
fragments.
The relative humidity in
the exhibition area and
vaults is kept at about 55 per-

"Parts of the scroll
are very wet, and
the leather is
actually turning
into liquid.

cent, and the temperature is
maintained at approximately
60 degrees Fahrenheit. Final-
ly, there is filtered light in the
exhibition area and complete
darkness in vaults, which
eliminates all ultra-violet
rays.
One of the team, Bruce
Zuckerman, stresses that the
group's work, "is essentially
an exploratory project. We are
utilizing ultra-modern
photograph equipment which
did not exist 40 years ago. The
first use of infrared, for exam-
ple, in the 1960s, made it
possible to interpret some of
the Dead Sea Scrolls which
had earlier eluded decipher-
ment. Our team's work is uni-
que in that it combines both
technical skills and academic
training."
Charlesworth notes that
the difficulties involved in
successfully interpreting the
Genesis-Apocryphon Scroll
are substantial, though far
from insurmountable. "Parts
of the scroll are very wet, and
the leather is actually turn-
ing into liquid. Moreover, this
is the one scroll that is conti-
nuing to deteriorate, this
despite the fact it's being kept
in a special vault."
The Princeton professor
adds that "with special equip-
ment, film and new techni-
ques, it has proved possible
after nine days to photograph
and read letters, words and
even lines of text on all 22 ex-