When Steve Green paid millions of dollars from his family fortune for 16 fragments of the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls, it seemed the perfect addition to their new Museum of the Bible in Washington DC.
But now experts have confirmed what has long been suspected: the artifacts proudly displayed in the nation’s capital by the owners of the Hobby Lobby chain of stores are not part of one of the most significant archaeological finds of all time.
They are worthless forgeries, probably made from old shoe leather. Experts have determined that 16 waxy yellow fragments said to be remnants of the Dead Sea Scrolls are not part of an ancient Hebrew Bible, but rather forgeries.
Confirmation of the hoax came in a report published online by a team of five art fraud investigators, after a two-day conference at the museum focusing on the comprehensive testing of the supposed scroll fragments was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The experts spent six months analyzing each fragment, concluding a study born from 2017 revelations that the lucrative international trade in Dead Sea Scroll pieces was awash in suspected forgeries and indications that at least five pieces bought by Green, the museum’s chairman, for an undisclosed amount ahead of its opening that year, were fake.
“After an exhaustive review of all the imaging and scientific analysis results, it is evident that none of the textual fragments in [the] Museum of the Bible’s Dead Sea Scroll collection are authentic,” wrote Colette Loll, the founder and director of Art Fraud Insights, the Washington company contracted to examine them.
The real ancient scrolls were first found in 1947 in Qumran caves near the Dead Seashore. They are considered to be one of the most significant historic discoveries of all time and are kept in Israel.
Investigators have also determined that the ink used on the fragments did not match the ink on the authentic scrolls.
The scientific report notes that since 2002 the antiquities market has become flooded with unknown textual fragments written in Hebrew or Aramaic, described as newly discovered biblical fragments.
