JERUSALEM — Five of the Dead Sea Scrolls that have been stored for decades in a climate-controlled exhibit at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem are now available in digital form to anyone with an Internet connection.
A website (http://dss.collections.imj.org.il) developed by the Israel Museum and Google allows online visitors to examine the scrolls in minute detail with the help of a magnifying feature.
Pages for each of the five scrolls — the Great Isaiah Scroll, the Community Rule Scroll, the Commentary on the Habakkuk Scroll, the Temple Scroll and the War Scroll — also contain brief videos and explanatory notes. According to the museum announcement, details invisible to the naked eye are made visible through ultrahigh resolution digital photography at up to 1,200 megapixels each. Dating from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D., the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in 11 caves near the Dead Sea.
The region’s arid environment helped ensure their survival. (TAB)
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