May 30, 2013

Hidden in Plain Sight! The World's Oldest Complete Torah Scroll!


In the archives at Bologna University in Italy, a 118 ft long scroll of the complete Torah was discovered to be much older than previously believed. The scroll was re-examined by Professor Mauro Perani, who had noticed that the writing appeared to be from a Babylonian tradition, containing letters and symbols that were later forbidden by Jewish scholars. This would mean that the Torah would actually be more than 800 years old, as opposed to the earlier dating to the 17th century.

How can we be certain of the new date of the scroll?

Since the scroll is on lamb skin, it was able to be carbon dated. The tests by the University of Salento in Italy and the University of Illinois in the US, confirmed the theory, dating the text to between 1155 and 1225 CE. So congratulations to this sleuthy professor and his meticulous detective work!

The university plans to photograph and upload digital images onto their library’s website. Soon, everyone will be able to view this amazing re-discovery!

No comments:

Post a Comment