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flat image to demonstrate what the scroll’s parchment would have looked like if they could physically unravel without damage. This requires the virtual unwrapping process to include a step that converts the curved 3D geometric pieces into flat 2D planes. To do so, the virtual unwrapping models the points on the surface of each 3D piece as masses connected by springs where the springs will come to rest only when the 3D pieces are perfectly flat. This technique is inspired by the mass-spring systems traditionally used to model deformation.
20:
209:. Researchers used a high energy x-ray beam to pass through the depth of the scroll. Each material will absorb the x-ray radiation differently, whereby the scroll will absorb it minimally but more than the empty space around it, and the ink will absorb it significantly more than the unwritten scroll areas around it.
75:, which it precedes by several centuries. Damaged by a fire in approximately 600 CE, the scroll is badly charred and fragmented and required noninvasive scientific and computational techniques to virtually unwrap and read, which was completed in 2015 by a team led by Brent Seales of the University of Kentucky.
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Mesh merging is more precise and is the final step in visualizing the unwrapped scroll. This type of merging recombines each point on the surface of each segment with the corresponding point on its neighbor segment to remove the distortions due to individual flattening. This step also re-flattens and
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Rather than modeling the complex geometry of the entire layer of the scroll, the piecewise model breaks each layer into more regular shapes that are easy to work with. This makes it easy to virtually lift off each piece of the layer one at a time. Because each voxel is ordered, peeling off each layer
104:
The innermost portion of the scroll contains a large blank area typically placed at the start of a scroll in order to protect it. For this reason, the researchers concluded that
Leviticus was the first book on the scroll and that at most three books of the Torah were originally present. However, most
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Texture merging aligns the textures from each segment to create a composite. This process is fast and gives feedback on the quality of the segmentation and alignment of each piece. While this is good enough to create a basic image of what the scroll looks like, there are some distortions which arise
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The first stage of the virtual unwrapping process, segmentation, involves identifying geometric models for the structures within the virtual scan of the scroll. Because of the extensive damage, the parchment has become deformed and no longer has a clearly cylindrical geometry. Instead, some portions
212:
This creates the sharp contrast we see between the text and the scroll in the final images. When the scroll completes a full rotation in regard to the x-ray source, the computer generates a 2D slice of the cross-section, and performing this iteratively allows the computer to build up a 3D volumetric
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The density distribution is stored by the computer with corresponding positions, called voxels or volume-pixels. The goal of the virtual unwrapping process is to determine the layered structure of the scroll and try to peel back each layer while keeping track of which voxel is being peeled and what
95:
that the scroll should be dated to the second half of the first century CE or the beginning of the second. Drew
Longacre disputed Yardeni's analysis, arguing that it was misled by the paucity of comparative material from later centuries. In Longacre's analysis, the paleographical evidence supported
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After segmentation and texturing, each piece of the virtually deconstructed scroll is ordered and has its corresponding text visualized on its surface. This is, in practice, enough to ‘read’ the inside of the scroll, but for the arts and antiquities world, it is often best to convert this to a 2D
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scan, each voxel has an associated brightness value that corresponds to a higher density. Since the metallic ink is denser than the carbon-based parchment, the ink will appear bright compared to the paper. After virtually peeling off the layers during the segmentation process, the texturing step
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In ideal cases, the scanned volume will match perfectly with the surface of each geometric piece and yield perfectly rendered text, but there are often small errors in the segmentation process that generate noise in the texturing process. Because of this, the texturing process usually includes
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After segmenting, textualizing, and flattening the scroll to obtain 2D text fragments, the last step is a merge step meant to reconcile each individual segment to visualize the unwrapped parchment as a whole. This involves two parts: texture merging and mesh merging.
184:
caused the scroll to disintegrate, leaving few options for conservation or restoration. The scroll fragments were preserved by the IAA, although for decades after their discovery the scroll remains remained in storage due to their severely damaged condition.
47:
dates the scroll to the third or fourth century CE (88.9% certainty for 210–390 CE), although there is disagreement over whether the evidence from the writing itself supports that date. The scroll was discovered to contain a portion of the biblical
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scan describing the density as a function of the position inside the scroll. The only data needed for the virtual unwrapping process is this volumetric scan, so after this point the scroll was safely returned to its protective archive.
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because each segment is individually flattened. Therefore, this is the first step in the merging process, used to check if the segmentation, texturing, and flattening processes were done correctly, but does not produce a final result.
491:
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The scroll's fragility led scientists to search for non-traditional techniques to reconstruct the text of the document virtually. This search led to the development of a virtual unwrapping technique developed by Prof. Seales of the
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density it corresponds to. By transforming the voxels from a 3D volumetric scan to a 2D image, the writing on this inside is revealed to the viewer. This process happens in three steps: segmentation, texturing and flattening.
138:
rule prescribing that scrolls used for liturgical purposes must contain the entire
Pentateuch, while other statements regarding when this rule came to be observed cannot be made with any degree of certainty.
705:
Bukreeva, Inna; Alessandrelli, Michele; Formoso, Vincenzo; Ranocchia, Graziano; Cedola, Alessia (2017). "Investigating
Herculaneum papyri: An innovative 3D approach for the virtual unfolding of the rolls".
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Using each of these steps, the computer is able to transform the voxels from the 3D volumetric scan and their corresponding density brightnesses to a 2D virtually unwrapped image of the text inside.
128:. If the radiocarbon date is correct, the scroll provides important evidence of the canonicalising of the masoretic text during a period from which textual evidence is almost non-existent.
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re-textures the image to create the final visualization of the unwrapped scroll, and is computationally expensive compared to the texture merging process detailed above.
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curve of the time placed this in 235–340 CE with 68% probability and 210–390 CE with 89% probability. This dating was challenged by Ada
Yardeni, who proposed on
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may look planar, some conical, some triangular, etc. Therefore, the most efficient way to assign a geometry to the layer is to do so in a piecewise fashion.
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matches the voxels of each geometric piece to their corresponding brightness value so that an observer is able to see the text written on each piece.
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492:"Reconsidering the Date of the En-Gedi Leviticus Scroll (EGLev): Exploring the Limitations of the Comparative-Typological Paleographic Method"
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120:. This places it on equal footing with a handful of earlier manuscripts found in the Judean Desert but distinct from the
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205:(micro-CT) to scan the damaged scroll. This scan is non-invasive and uses the same technology as a traditional
180:. Severely damaged by a fire around 600 CE, the scroll appeared as burned, crushed chunks of charcoal. Each
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The second stage, texturing, focuses on identifying intensity values that correspond with each voxel using
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176:, the site of an ancient Jewish community. It was found in the burned remains of the ancient synagogue's
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The 2020 calibration curve gives 243–350 CE with 68% probability and 234–405 CE with 95% probability.
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The text recovered consists of 18 complete lines and 17 partial lines of the first two chapters of
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Segal, M.; Segal, E.; Seales, W.B.; Parker, C.S.; Shor, P.; Porath, Y.; Yardeni, A. (2016).
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Segal, M.; Segal, E.; Seales, W.B.; Parker, C.S.; Shor, P.; Porath, Y.; Yardeni, A. (2016).
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of a charred fragment presumed to be from the scroll gave a C age of 1754±40 years. The
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noted that the researchers have concluded that by the fourth century CE, there was no
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387:"From damage to discovery via virtual unwrapping: Reading the scroll from En-Gedi"
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of the scroll has been burnt away and only two columns of
Leviticus were found.
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662:
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Seales, W. B.; Parker, C. S.; Segal, M.; Tov, E.; Shor, P.; Porath, Y. (2016).
198:, which in 2015 allowed scientists to reveal the text contained in the scroll.
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The deciphered text fragment is identical to what was to become, during the
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112:. It is identical both in consonantal text and paragraph division to the
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539:"An Early Leviticus Scroll from En Gedi: Preliminary Publication"
455:"An Early Leviticus Scroll from En Gedi: Preliminary Publication"
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The En-Gedi Scroll was discovered in a 1970 excavation headed by
663:"The Use of Micro-CT in the Study of Archaeological Artifacts"
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of the
Institute of Archaeology at Hebrew University, and
617:"The scroll from En-Gedi: A high-tech recovery mission"
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will preserve the continuity of the scroll structure.
661:Baumann, Ryan; Porter, Dorothy; Seales, W. (2008).
16:Hebrew parchment found in 1970 at Ein Gedi, Israel
201:The virtual unwrapping process begins with using
255:to reduce the noise and sharpen the lettering.
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637:Understanding the Pentateuch as a Scripture
670:9th International Conference on NDT of Art
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332:de Lazaro, Enrico (September 23, 2016).
23:The charred ancient scroll from Ein Gedi
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615:Harder, Whitney (September 22, 2016).
672:. Jerusalem, Israel, 25 - 30 May 2008
640:. John Wiley & Sons. p. 77.
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748:Archaeological discoveries in Israel
590:American School of Oriental Research
334:"En-Gedi Scroll Finally Deciphered"
52:, making it the earliest copy of a
576:"The World's Oldest Torah Scrolls"
168:(IAA) at the ancient synagogue in
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733:3rd-century biblical manuscripts
768:1970 archaeological discoveries
251:nearest-neighbor interpolation
116:as exemplified by the medieval
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166:Israel Antiquities Authority
67:, the standard text of the
35:parchment found in 1970 at
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93:the basis of letter shapes
83:Radiocarbon dating at the
558:10.1163/2589255X-02601004
511:10.1163/2589255X-02701004
474:10.1163/2589255X-02601004
690:: CS1 maint: location (
634:Watts, James W (2017).
490:Longacre, Drew (2018).
89:radiocarbon calibration
743:Archaeological corpora
738:Ancient Jewish history
592:(ASOR). Archived from
411:10.1126/sciadv.1601247
196:University of Kentucky
143:Discovery and recovery
96:the radiocarbon date.
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203:X-ray microtomography
56:book ever found in a
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403:2016SciA....2E1247S
45:Radiocarbon testing
758:Hebrew manuscripts
572:Rendsburg, Gary A.
299:Herculaneum papyri
85:Weizmann Institute
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253:texture filtering
132:Gary A. Rendsburg
50:Book of Leviticus
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341:. Retrieved
338:Sci-News.com
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311:Torah scroll
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281:Mesh merging
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69:Hebrew Bible
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54:Pentateuchal
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242:. From the
182:disturbance
158:Ehud Netzer
65:Middle Ages
727:Categories
713:1706.09883
317:References
259:Flattening
581:ANE Today
505:: 44–84.
468:: 29–58.
234:Texturing
178:Torah Ark
154:Dan Barag
148:Discovery
124:found at
110:Leviticus
58:Torah ark
621:Sci News
600:2 August
429:27679821
293:See also
244:micro-CT
189:Recovery
170:Ein Gedi
136:halakhic
37:Ein Gedi
676:9 March
420:5031465
399:Bibcode
343:9 March
207:CT scan
164:of the
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546:Textus
499:Textus
462:Textus
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174:Israel
126:Qumran
79:Dating
41:Israel
33:Hebrew
763:Judea
708:arXiv
666:(PDF)
588:(3).
542:(PDF)
495:(PDF)
458:(PDF)
692:link
678:2024
642:ISBN
602:2019
425:PMID
345:2024
156:and
100:Text
27:The
554:doi
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470:doi
415:PMC
407:doi
172:in
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
