"What we're looking at here is one sheet of what is known as the Great Psalms Scroll from Cave 11," said Dr. Joe Uziel, who is the head of the Dead Seas Scrolls Unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
We’re getting a closeup look at a 2,000 year old part of history. It’s one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, part of an exhibition opening this week at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Ventura County.
"The Dead Sea Scrolls are a library of texts that were discovered in the Judaean Desert in caves...they were discovered beginning roughly in 1947 and 1948 through 1956, although the odd discovery still materializes," said Dr. Risa Levett. She is a researcher, and co-creator of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It’s an exhibition which features more than two dozen of the actual scrolls, as well as hundreds of artifacts from the Israel Antiquities Authority’s collection. The exhibition opens Friday at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley.
"They comprise a huge library of texts, mostly religious texts, every book of what's known as the Hebrew Bible, or the Old Testament, is documented save one. The Book of Esther has not been discovered," said Levett.
"The exhibition comprises over 240 objects, and dates range from the Ottoman period all the way back to the first century BCE, and CE," said the researcher.
Uziel said there are a thousand manuscripts in the collection, but there are about 25 thousand pieces, so research is ongoing.
"We're making new discoveries all the time. There's different types of discoveries," said Uziel. "You are getting a look at some of our nicer pieces, but we also have a lot of more challenging pieces. where the writing isn't as clear, and so we're constantly doing more research to get better readings, and to put things together in a better manner."
Uziel said in addition to the oldest known copies of the Hebrew Bible, the scrolls include a treasure trove of other religious writings. He said sharing the historical treasures with the public is an important part of the mission.
"This is so incredible for me," said Uziel. "We're so used to discussing things in this small little bubble of ours as researchers, but really our mission is to share this information with the broader public."
But, it isn’t easy taking the scrolls on the road. They have to be shielded from bright light, and must be kept in a precise temperature controlled environment. After each scroll is displayed for three months, it is moved to a completely dark storage facility for five years.
The Presidential Library’s Melissa Giller says three sets of scrolls rotate through the traveling exhibition during its Ventura County stop. "The only items that are changing out are the Dead Sea scrolls themselves. So, every three months we'll get a whole new set of scrolls. So, technically you could come three times during this exhibition and see 24 different scrolls."
The exhibition also features a number of artifacts from the period, to try to give visitors more context. It runs through September 2 at the Reagan Library.
