Genetic Clues of the Dead Sea Scrolls

 

The Dead Sea Scrolls containing the earliest version of the Hebrew Bible has been analyzed for genetic testing. Slivers of the scroll were determined to be made of sheepskin and cow skin. Furthermore, it was concluded that more than 25,000 Dead Sea Scroll fragments were made from the same animal skins are a part of the same document. The Dead Sea Scrolls indicate religious developments across southern Israel around 2,000 years ago. Most of the scroll fragments were from between 1947 and the 1960s. These documents are traced back to the Qumran caves in which a small Jewish outlier group settled. It was hypothesized that the scrolls from the Qumran caves were written by the same people due to the same language and writing styles on each. The genetic testing of these particular scrolls supported the correlation. It was also determined that scrolls made of sheepskin were of a different origin than the two scrolls of cow skin. In further investigation, researchers DNA tested scrolls from Masada which were also comprised of sheep skin. It was determined that the sheepskin from the Masada scroll was from a different line of sheep, and was therefore produced by a separate group of people.  In the end, many biblical timelines and contexts can now be understood better through the utilization of Dead Sea Scroll DNA testing. 

References 

Bower, B. (2020, July 08). The Dead Sea Scrolls contain genetic clues to their origins. Retrieved from https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dead-sea-scrolls-dna-genetic-clues-origins-hebrew-bible 

S. Anava et al. Illuminating genetic mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Cell. Published June 2, 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.046.

Dead Sea Scrolls

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dead-sea-scrolls-dna-genetic-clues-origins-hebrew-bible

           https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/introduction?locale=en_US

           

           The Dead Sea Scrolls are some of the oldest and most valuable religious artifacts that man has uncovered. These scrolls were used to distinguish the place of origin and the consistency of material to ensure the scrolls authenticity. Since these scrolls are made out of sheep or cow skin, the DNA of these animals can be investigated and analyzed. Slivers of the scrolls were taken to be researched to begin marking out the genetic map for the animal skins. After excluding the DNA from people who have handled the scrolls, the mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA were studied to compare against the samples from other scrolls. Relationships between the scrolls DNA and foreign DNA can be distinguished, determining the place of origin of the sheep or cow used for the scrolls. Through scientific research, the experimenters came to the conclusion that some of the scrolls were made elsewhere not in the community of Qumran - where the scrolls were believed to originated - due to the DNA markers suggesting a second lineage of sheep or cow used for the writings was apparent. This leaves researchers of both of the scientific and religious field to believe the scrolls origin is more broad in terms of location than expected, and that some scrolls were crafted and written after the original scrolls were, suggesting alteration or translation of the original text.