Editing Dead Sea Scrolls (section)

==Physical characteristics==
[[File:7Q6-1,2.png|thumb|right|Fragments 1 and 2 of '7Q6' from Cave 7 are written on papyrus.]]

===Radiocarbon dating===
{{Main|Carbon dating the Dead Sea Scrolls}}
Parchment from a number of the Dead Sea Scrolls has been [[Radiocarbon dating|carbon dated]]. The initial test performed in 1950 was on a piece of linen from one of the caves. This test gave an indicative dating of 33&nbsp;CE plus or minus 200 years, eliminating early hypotheses relating the scrolls to the [[Middle Ages|Medieval period]].<ref>Doudna, G. "Carbon-14 Dating", in ''Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls'', Schiffman, Lawrence, Tov, Emanuel, & VanderKam, James, eds., Vol. 1 (Oxford: 2000).{{page?|date=September 2024}}{{ISBN?}}</ref> Since then two large series of tests have been performed on the scrolls. The results were summarized by VanderKam and Flint, who said the tests give "strong reason for thinking that most of the Qumran manuscripts belong to the last two centuries BCE and the first century CE."{{r|VanderKamFlint2005}}{{rp|32}}

===Paleographic dating===
Analysis of letter forms, or palaeography, was applied to the texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls by a variety of scholars in the field. Major linguistic analysis by [[Frank Moore Cross|Cross]] and [[Nahman Avigad|Avigad]] dates fragments from 225&nbsp;BCE to 50&nbsp;CE.<ref name="autogenerated1">Grossman, Maxine. "Rediscovering the Dead Sea Scrolls." pp.&nbsp;48–51. 2010. {{ISBN?}}</ref> These dates were determined by examining the size, variability, and style of the text.<ref>Schofield, Alison. "From Qumran to the Yahad." p. 81. 2009. {{ISBN?}}</ref> The same fragments were later analysed using radiocarbon dating and were dated to an estimated range of 385&nbsp;BCE to 82&nbsp;CE with a 68% accuracy rate.{{r|autogenerated1}}

===Ink and parchment===
The scrolls were analysed using a [[cyclotron]] at the [[University of California, Davis]], where it was found that all black ink was [[carbon black]].<ref name="Nir-El and Broshi black">{{Cite journal|last1=Nir-El|first1=Yoram|last2=Broshi|first2=Magen|date=2009|jstor=4201558|title=The Black Ink of the Qumran Scrolls|journal=Dead Sea Discoveries|volume=3|issue=2|pages=157–167|doi=10.1163/156851796X00183}}</ref> The red ink on the scrolls was found to be made with [[cinnabar]] (HgS, mercury sulfide).<ref name="Nir-El and Broshi red">{{Cite journal|last1=Nir-El|first1=Yoram|last2=Broshi|first2=Magen|date=2007|title=The Red Ink of the Dead Sea Scrolls|journal=Archaeometry|volume=38|issue=1|pages=97–102|doi=10.1111/j.1475-4754.1996.tb00763.x}}</ref> There are only four uses of this red ink in the entire collection of Dead Sea Scroll fragments.<ref name="Nir-El and Broshi red"/> The black inks found on the scrolls are mostly made of carbon soot from [[Oil lamp|olive oil lamps]].<ref name="itsgila.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.itsgila.com/headlinerscrolls.htm|title=Shepherds, Scholars and the Dead Sea Scrolls|publisher=itsgila.com|access-date=1 June 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130426194314/http://www.itsgila.com/headlinerscrolls.htm|archive-date=26 April 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Honey, oil, vinegar, and water were often added to the mixture to thin the ink to a proper consistency for writing.{{r|itsgila.com}} [[Iron gall ink|Galls]] were sometimes added to the ink to make it more resilient.{{r|itsgila.com}} In order to apply the ink to the scrolls, its writers used [[reed pen]]s.<ref name="Magness, Jodi P.33">Magness, Jodi. ''The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls''. p. 33. 2002.{{ISBN?}}</ref>

The Dead Sea Scrolls were written on [[parchment]] made of processed [[animal hides|animal hide]] known as [[vellum]] (approximately 85.5–90.5% of the scrolls), [[papyrus]] (estimated at 8–13% of the scrolls), and sheets of [[bronze]] composed of about 99% [[copper]] and 1% [[tin]] (approximately 1.5% of the scrolls).{{r|Magness, Jodi P.33}}<ref>McFarlane, Callie. ''A Clear Destiny''. p. 126. 2011.{{ISBN?}}</ref> For those scrolls written on animal hides, scholars with the [[Israel Antiquities Authority|Israeli Antiquities Authority]] (IAA), by use of DNA testing for assembly purposes, believe that there may be a hierarchy in the religious importance of the texts based on which type of animal was used to create the hide. Scrolls written on [[goat]] and [[calf (animal)|calf]] hides are considered by scholars to be more significant in nature, while those written on [[gazelle]] or [[Capra (genus)|ibex]] are considered to be less religiously significant in nature.<ref name="aaas.org">{{cite web |author=Sommers |first=Benjamin |date=8 November 2006 |title=Scientists Decode Dead Sea Scrolls with DNA and Infrared Digital Photography |url=http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2006/1108scrolls.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091013213623/http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2006/1108scrolls.shtml |archive-date=13 October 2009 |publisher=AAAS}}</ref>

Tests by the [[Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare|National Institute of Nuclear Physics]] in [[Sicily]] have suggested that the origin of parchment of select Dead Sea Scroll fragments is from the Qumran area, by using [[X-ray]] and [[particle-induced X-ray emission]] testing of the water used to make the parchment that were compared with the water from the area aroundQumran.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.discovery.com/history/dead-sea-scrolls-protons.html|title=Dead Sea Scrolls Made Locally, Tests Show|publisher=Discovery|date=10 May 2017|access-date=1 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120814115417/http://news.discovery.com/history/dead-sea-scrolls-protons.html|archive-date=14 August 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Preservation===
[[File:Qumran pottery.jpg|thumb|right|Two of the pottery jars that held some of the Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran]]
[[File:Two Dead Sea Scrolls Jars at the Jordan Museum, Amman.jpg|thumb|Two Dead Sea Scrolls jars at the Jordan Museum, Amman]]

The Dead Sea Scrolls that were found were originally preserved by the arid conditions present within the Qumran area adjoining the Dead Sea.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/scrolls/dead.html|title=The Dead Sea|publisher=Library of Congress|access-date=29 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120093414/http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/scrolls/dead.html|archive-date=20 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, the lack of the use of [[Tanning (leather)|tanning]] materials on the parchment of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the very low airflow in the caves also contributed significantly to their preservation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cojs.org/cojswiki/Saving_the_Dead_Sea_Scrolls_for_the_Next_2000_Years,_Dodo_Joseph_Shenhav,_Biblical_Archaeology_Review,_Jul/Aug_1981 |title= Saving the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Next 2000 Years, Dodo Joseph Shenhav, Biblical Archaeology Review, Jul/Aug 1981 – CojsWiki|website=cojs.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202224004/http://cojs.org/cojswiki/Saving_the_Dead_Sea_Scrolls_for_the_Next_2000_Years%2C_Dodo_Joseph_Shenhav%2C_Biblical_Archaeology_Review%2C_Jul/Aug_1981 |archive-date=2 December 2013}}</ref> Some of the scrolls were found stored in clay jars, further helping to preserve them from deterioration. The original handling of the scrolls by archaeologists and scholars was done inappropriately, and, along with their storage in an uncontrolled environment, they began a process of more rapid deterioration than they had experienced at Qumran.<ref name="antiquities.org.il">{{cite web |author=Pnina Shor |url=http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=17&sub_subj_id=522 |title=Conservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls |publisher=Israel Antiquities Authority |access-date=13 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523101658/http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=17&sub_subj_id=522 |archive-date=23 May 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> During the first few years in the late 1940s and early 1950s, adhesive tape used to join fragments and seal cracks caused significant damage to the documents.{{r|antiquities.org.il}} The government of Jordan had recognized the urgency of protecting the scrolls from deterioration and the presence of the deterioration among the scrolls.<ref name="Burrows, Millar 1958">Burrows, Millar. ''More Light on the Dead Sea Scrolls''. 1958.{{page?|date=September 2024}}</ref> However, the government did not have adequate funds to purchase all the scrolls for their protection and agreed to have foreign institutions purchase the scrolls and have them held at their museum in Jerusalem until they could be "adequately studied".{{r|Burrows, Millar 1958}}

In early 1953, the scrolls were moved to the Palestine Archaeological Museum (commonly called the [[Rockefeller Museum]])<ref name="RockefellerHist">{{cite web |url=http://www.imj.org.il/rockefeller/eng/Establishment.html |title=West meets East – The Story of the Rockefeller Museum |website=imj.org.il |publisher=The Israel Museum, Jerusalem |access-date=18 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005201100/http://www.imj.org.il/rockefeller/eng/Establishment.html |archive-date=5 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> in East Jerusalem and through their transportation suffered more deterioration and damage.{{r|VanderKamFlint2005}}{{rp|63–65}} The museum was underfunded and had limited resources with which to examine the scrolls, and as a result conditions of the "scrollery" and storage area were left relatively uncontrolled by modern standards.{{r|VanderKamFlint2005}} The museum had left most of the fragments and scrolls lying between window glass, trapping the moisture in with them, causing an acceleration in the deterioration process. During the [[Suez Crisis]] the scrolls collection of the Palestine Archaeological Museum was stored in the vault of the [[Ottoman Bank]] in [[Amman]], Jordan.<ref name="Fitzmyer1992">Fitzmyer, Joseph A. ''Responses to 101 Questions on the Dead Sea Scrolls''. 1992.{{page?|date=September 2024}}{{ISBN?}}</ref> Damp conditions from temporary storage of the scrolls in the Ottoman Bank vault from 1956 to 1957 led to a more rapid rate of deterioration of the scrolls. The conditions caused mildew to develop on the scrolls and fragments, and some fragments were partially destroyed or made illegible by the glue and paper of the [[Manila folder|manila envelopes]] in which they were stored while in the vault.{{r|Fitzmyer1992}} By 1958 it was noted that up to 5% of some of the scrolls had completely deteriorated.{{r|Burrows, Millar 1958}} Many of the texts had become illegible, and many of the parchments had darkened considerably.{{r|VanderKamFlint2005|antiquities.org.il}}

Until the 1970s, the scrolls continued to deteriorate because of poor storage arrangements, exposure to different adhesives, and being stored in moist environments.{{r|antiquities.org.il}} Fragments written on parchment (rather than papyrus or bronze) in the hands of private collectors and scholars suffered an even worse fate than those in the hands of the museum, with large portions of fragments being reported to have disappeared by 1966.{{r|ReferenceA}} In the late 1960s, the deterioration was becoming a major concern with scholars and museum officials alike. Scholars [[John M. Allegro|John Allegro]] and Sir Francis Frank were among the first to strongly advocate for better preservation techniques.{{r|VanderKamFlint2005}} Early attempts made by both the British and Israel museums to remove the adhesive tape ended up exposing the parchment to an array of chemicals, including "[[British Museum leather dressing|British Leather Dressing]]," and darkening some of them significantly.{{r|VanderKamFlint2005}} In the 1970s and 1980s, other preservation attempts were made that included removing the glass plates and replacing them with cardboard and removing pressure against the plates that held the scrolls in storage; however, the fragments and scrolls continued to rapidly deteriorate during this time.{{r|antiquities.org.il}}

In 1991, the IAA established a temperature-controlled laboratory for the [[Preservation (library and archive)|storage and preservation]] of the scrolls. The actions and preservation methods of Rockefeller Museum staff were concentrated on the removal of tape, oils, metals, salt, and other contaminants.{{r|antiquities.org.il}} The fragments and scrolls are preserved using acid-free cardboard and stored in [[solander box]]es in the climate-controlled storage area.{{r|antiquities.org.il}} Nine tiny tefellin strips were rediscovered by the IAA in 2014, after they had been stored unopened for six decades following their excavation in 1952.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/science/nine-unopened-dead-sea-scrolls-found/|title=Nine unopened Dead Sea Scrolls found|work=Fox News|date=24 March 2015|access-date=13 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313070303/http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/03/13/nine-unopened-dead-sea-scrolls-found/|archive-date=13 March 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Nine manuscripts with biblical text unearthed in Qumran|url=http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/culture/2014/02/27/Nine-manuscripts-biblical-text-unearthed-Qumran_10153990.html|access-date=13 March 2014|newspaper=ANSAmed|date=27 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314000426/http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/culture/2014/02/27/Nine-manuscripts-biblical-text-unearthed-Qumran_10153990.html|archive-date=14 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>