Science AMA Series: We are Brent, Michael, and Seth and yesterday we
published our analysis of the En-Gedi Sea Scrolls. We created a
technology that virtually unwrapped and read an ancient scroll - Ask us
anything!
Abstract
Hi reddit! Our team has completed a digital analysis of the extremely
fragile En-Gedi scroll — the oldest Pentateuchal scroll in Hebrew
outside of the Dead Sea Scrolls — revealing the ink-based writing
hidden on its untouchable, disintegrating sheets, without ever opening
it. While prior research has successfully identified text within ancient
artifacts, the En-Gedi manuscript represents the first severely damaged,
animal skin-based scroll to be virtually unrolled and non-invasively
read line by line. The series of digitization techniques we employed
demonstrates that it is possible to “see” ink-based text within an
extremely fragile scroll while avoiding the need for physical handling.
The traditional approach of unrolling a scroll and pressing it flat in
order to duplicate text is not an option for splintering manuscripts
like the En-Gedi scroll, which has been burned and crushed into lumps of
charcoal. We began by performing a volumetric scan of the scroll using
X-ray microtomography, followed by segmentation, which digitally creates
a “page” containing the writing. We pieced together over 100 such
scanned segments of the scroll by hand. Further manipulation of the
digitized scroll involved using texturing and flattening techniques, and
finally, virtual unwrapping to unveil the text written on its pages. At
last, we were able to “see” the text on five complete wraps of the
En-Gedi scroll, and the resulting image is one of two distinct columns
of Hebrew writing that contain legible and countable lines, words,
letters, and spacing. Further analysis revealed the scroll’s writings to
be the book of Leviticus, which makes it the earliest copy of a
Pentateuchal book ever found in a synagogue’s Holy Ark. This virtual
unlocking of the En-Gedi scroll paves the way for further scholarly
analysis of this and other text buried in delicate, damaged materials.
Our research was published yesterday in Science Advances, the
open-access journal of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. Here is our article: “From damage to discovery via virtual
unwrapping: Reading the scroll from En-Gedi” Brent Seales, professor
and chairman in the department of computer science at the University of
Kentucky Michael Segal, the Otsuki Professor of Biblical Studies and
head of the School of Philosophy and Religions at Hebrew University of
Jerusalem Seth Parker is the Project Manager on the Scrolls Project,
directly overseeing software development by the team’s 8 student
developers. He’s also a big fan of Whit Stillman and Ross McElwee. We’ll
be back at 11 am EST (8 am PST, 4 pm UC) to answer your questions, ask
us anything!