The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered over sixty years ago in a cave by a Bedouin shepherd in the West Bank, and are now counted as among the most important archeological finds of the modern era. The scrolls consist of 30,000 separate fragments making up 900 manuscripts of biblical texts and religious writings from the time of Jesus.
The fragile parchment and papyrus fragments have been intensely studied by scholars from the world over in an attempt to understand the full significance of some 30% of the writings which were previously unknown to us. It is hoped that they will provide fresh insight into the development of early Christianity, Second Temple Judaism and the practices of the Essenes, the sect believed by many to have written the scrolls.
The scrolls include the earliest known copy of the Ten Commandments, an almost complete Book of Isaiah and many of the Psalms.
New invented technology such as infra-red and multi-spectral multi-wavelength imaging have recently revealed previously hidden words and passages not visible in natural light, much to the excitement of scholars.
The scrolls have previously been damaged unintentionally by attempted restoration projects and by photographing which is why they have now been scanned and will be placed online in a new digitized format by the Israel Antiquities Authority and Google.
This not only means that the scrolls will become available online to everyone who wishes to study or read them, but it also means that the originals will not have to be exposed again.
'We are establishing a milestone connection between progress and the past to preserve this unique heritage for future generations,' said Israel Antiquities Authority Director Shuka Dorfman, announcing the launch of the project in Jerusalem this week.
'We have succeeded in recruiting the best minds and technological means to preserve this unrivalled cultural heritage treasure which belongs to all of us, so that the public with a click of the mouse will be able to freely access history in its fullest glamour.'
Google said it was helping with the project as part of its mission to democratise access to human knowledge.
'This project will enrich and preserve an important and meaningful part of world heritage by making it accessible to all on the Internet,' said Professor Yossi Matias, director of the Google-Israel R&D Centre.
'We shall continue with this historical effort to make all existing knowledge in archives and storages available to all.'