26-Sep-2011 16:53

Whatever next? Dead Sea Scrolls in High Resolution

Whatever next? Dead Sea Scrolls in Super High Resolution!

Google, in its commendable project to index, store online and educate the public has now uploaded five of the Dead Sea Scrolls in super high resolution.

The Dead Sea Scrolls were written about 2,500 years ago by a nomadic Jewish desert tribe, and contain certain passages from the Old Testament & other sources…

They are the oldest known surviving copies of Biblical and extra-biblical documents & are of important historic and religious significance..

The five scrolls that Google are uploading include, The Book of Isaiah, the War Scroll, the Temple Scroll, the Commentary on Chabukuk Scroll and the Community Rule Scroll.

The Scrolls - laid out and unrolled parchments - can actually be viewed at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem & or online on the Museum website.

As Google explains on its blog, “the high resolution photographs, taken by Ardon Bar-Hama, are up to 1,200 megapixels, almost 200 times more than the average consumer camera, so viewers can see even the most minute details in the parchment. For example, zoom in on the Temple Scroll to get a feel for the animal skin it's written on — only one-tenth of a millimeter thick."

Well done Google - an amazing and highly praiseworthy product.