![]() ![]() Radiocarbon dating determined that that fragment was from the late-antique or early-medieval period. That appears to have been the case with another infamously unprovenanced fragment, the so-called Gospel of Jesus’s Wife, which came to light in 2012. Forgers have been known to write text on scraps of authentically ancient papyrus. It’s worth noting, though, that it’s sometimes very difficult to detect forgeries, even when using the same scientific methods of analysis recently applied to the museum’s Dead Sea Scrolls fragments. ![]() Read: It’s disturbingly easy to buy Iraq’s archaeological treasures.Īrchaeologists have long argued that when it comes to forgeries, the supply continues because the demand is there: So long as organizations like the Museum of the Bible are willing to purchase and display these artifacts, they will continue to be offered up on the market. Many of the texts discovered were fragments of well-known passages from the Hebrew Bible, while others were previously unknown passages that shed light on Judaism during the Second Temple period. They are a favorite among forgers, perhaps not least because the collection of 900 mostly fragmentary scrolls was hailed as one of the most significant archaeological finds for biblical studies after it was discovered in the 1940s and ’50s in caves around Qumran in the West Bank. Dozens of unprovenanced Dead Sea Scrolls fragments have come to light since 2002. Since the 1990s, hundreds of thousands of artifacts have been looted from Iraq alone.Īt this point, any recently discovered artifact being billed as an authentic fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls has to be met with cautious scrutiny. In their book Bible Nation, the scholars Candida Moss and Joel Baden criticized the Green organization for lacking “any sense of due diligence.” Judicious sourcing of artifacts is especially important given the rampant looting of archaeological sites in the Middle East in recent decades. The revelation about the five Dead Sea Scrolls fragments reflects an ongoing tension between biblical-studies scholars and the museum. Read: Hobby Lobby purchased thousands of ancient artifacts smuggled out of Iraq. ![]() Justice Department filed a civil forfeiture complaint against the company for illegally importing the artifacts from Iraq. In 2017, Hobby Lobby was even forced to forfeit thousands of Mesopotamian artifacts and pay a $3 million fine after the U.S. Without this documentation, there’s no way to know that an artifact was not looted and sold on the black market.Ī high-profile example of this came to light when the papyrologist Roberta Mazza discovered that the Green collection had acquired an unprovenanced fragment of the New Testament’s Book of Galatians that had previously been spotted for sale on eBay, where it was posted under a Turkish account. Many of the artifacts the Greens acquired lack provenance-documentation detailing their origin and history of ownership. In just four years, they amassed more than 40,000 artifacts, raising questions among scholars of the items’ authenticity and the possibility of illegal origins. The Green family, the evangelical owners of the craft-supply chain Hobby Lobby, started to collect artifacts pertaining to the Bible and its cultural context in 2009, with the goal of eventually founding the Museum of the Bible. Concern over the dubious sourcing of artifacts has dogged the museum since its inception. Jeffrey Kloha, its chief curatorial officer, said in a statement that this week’s revelation is “an opportunity to educate the public on the importance of verifying the authenticity of rare biblical artifacts.” And while that’s certainly true, this is also a lesson that the Museum of the Bible has had ample opportunity to learn before. The announcement, which came after several experts raised questions over the fragments’ authenticity, is the latest in a string of controversies that have plagued the museum over how it acquired its artifacts. The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., has confirmed what many scholars have long suspected: Five artifacts it had been displaying as Dead Sea Scrolls fragments are probably forgeries. ![]()
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