Submission + - Google brings the Dead Sea scrolls to the digital age (blogspot.com) 5
skade88 writes: Google has been working to bring many old manuscripts to the internet in high resolutions for all to see.
From the Google Press Release:
'A little over a year ago, we helped put online five manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls—ancient documents that include the oldest known biblical manuscripts in existence. Written more than 2,000 years ago on pieces of parchment and papyrus, they were preserved by the hot, dry desert climate and the darkness of the caves in which they were hidden. The Scrolls are possibly the most important archaeological discovery of the 20th century.
Today, we’re helping put more of these ancient treasures online. The Israel Antiquities Authority is launching the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library, an online collection of some 5,000 images of scroll fragments, at a quality never seen before. The texts include one of the earliest known copies of the Book of Deuteronomy, which includes the Ten Commandments; part of Chapter 1 of the Book of Genesis, which describes the creation of the world; and hundreds more 2,000-year-old texts, shedding light on the time when Jesus lived and preached, and on the history of Judaism.'
From the Google Press Release:
'A little over a year ago, we helped put online five manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls—ancient documents that include the oldest known biblical manuscripts in existence. Written more than 2,000 years ago on pieces of parchment and papyrus, they were preserved by the hot, dry desert climate and the darkness of the caves in which they were hidden. The Scrolls are possibly the most important archaeological discovery of the 20th century.
Today, we’re helping put more of these ancient treasures online. The Israel Antiquities Authority is launching the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library, an online collection of some 5,000 images of scroll fragments, at a quality never seen before. The texts include one of the earliest known copies of the Book of Deuteronomy, which includes the Ten Commandments; part of Chapter 1 of the Book of Genesis, which describes the creation of the world; and hundreds more 2,000-year-old texts, shedding light on the time when Jesus lived and preached, and on the history of Judaism.'
Not quite so important (Score:2)
"The Scrolls are possibly the most important archaeological discovery of the 20th century."
Probably not, buckaroo. The religions which care about them will argue incessantly about proper translation and interpretation, even whether they are real, forged, original, and on and on.
They are a curiousity to everybody else.
The discovery of traces of cheese from 7500 years ago is probably far more important. There are a lot more like that.
Re: (Score:2)
Oops (Score:2)
Got me there. But there are plenty of 20th century finds more important than the Dead Dea scrolls, which shed actual light on actual historical unknowns.
Re: (Score:2)
This is old news (Score:1)
and has been posted before on slashdot http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/09/26/2342211/the-dead-sea-scrolls-and-information-paranoia [slashdot.org]