It's been a mystery puzzling scientists for 45 years. But finally, with the help of modern technology, researchers were able to decipher the text on this badly charred scroll, found to be a 1,500 year old copy of the Hebrew bible.
Scientists say that it's the most significant find of an ancient Bible since the Dead Sea Scrolls, widely considered to be the oldest written biblical text, dating between third century B.C. and 70 A.D. Pnina Shor, curator at the Israel Antiquities Authority, explains.
Curator at the Israel Antiquities Authority, Pnina Shor, saying (English) "We need to compare this material with on the one hand the Dead Sea Scrolls which is few centuries younger, at least four centuries if not younger- six centuries, and the Aleppo codex which is four centuries later, so in that sense, its unbelievable."
The scroll was uncovered in 1970 at the remnants of an ancient synagogue in Ein Gedi, on the west shore of the Dead Sea.
At the time the scroll was deemed too damaged to read. But with the help of micro CT scanning technology and digital imaging, scientists have found that it contains verses from the Book of Leviticus -- the third book in the Hebrew Bible.
