Scientists decipher charred 1,500-year-old scroll

A 1,500-year-old Torah scroll burned beyond the point of unrolling or deciphering has been read using advanced digital imaging. The text researchers were able to reveal is from the Book of Leviticus and outlines the requirements for the preparation and offering of a sacrificial animal.

To make the ancient words visible required the assistance of cutting edge modern technology. The scroll was first scanned using a non-invasive X-ray tomography machine. That data was then processed through a virtual unwrapping program, which allowed the Hebrew text on individual pages to be isolated.

While the means used to read the scroll are significant, so is the find itself. The scroll was discovered during a 1970 excavation of the burned synagogue at Ein Gedi inside its Holy Ark. It was the first Torah scroll to ever be discovered inside such a building, particularly in a Holy Ark. It dates back to the 6th century, making it among the oldest biblical texts to ever be retrieved.