"Unlike the other Dead Sea Scrolls, which were written on parchment or papyrus and contained biblical texts and religious writings, the Copper Scroll was engraved onto sheets of metal and seemingly designed to remain sealed forever."
"Archaeologists and biblical scholars have theorized that the scroll appears to describe caches of buried gold and silver hidden across the ancient Holy Land. Its cryptic entries describe hidden riches using vague directions, including references to tombs, cisterns, stairways and buried containers of gold."
"Now, archaeologist Shimon Gibson of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte believes the enigmatic artifact may not have been a treasure map at all, but a secret record connected to the Bar Kochba revolt, a bloody Jewish uprising against the Roman Empire."
"Gibson argued the valuables listed in the scroll may have been funds or contributions secretly gathered to support the rebellion, which erupted between 132 and 136 AD."
The Copper Scroll, discovered in 1952 in Cave 3Q near Qumran, differs from other Dead Sea Scrolls because it is engraved on metal and appears intended to remain sealed. While earlier interpretations treated it as a map to buried gold and silver across the Holy Land, no listed riches have been found despite extensive searches. A newer interpretation proposes the entries function as a record of funds or contributions collected by a priestly group during the Bar Kochba revolt against the Roman Empire between 132 and 136 AD. The cryptic directions referencing tombs, cisterns, stairways, and buried containers could reflect concealed resources meant to sustain rebellion during an apocalyptic expectation.
Read at Mail Online
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]