Treasure of the Copper Scrolls

West Bank of Israel, February-1947, when a few Bedouin (generally applied to Arab nomadic desert groups) shepherd lads wandering the hills of Qumran, located near the Dead Sea of Israel, in search of a missing sheep, discovered; OK, so you recall the October 2011 Critique / Post published right here on the subject.

As the story goes one of the boys threw a stone into a cave, hoping to drive the lost animal outside. Instead, he heard the sound of pottery shattering which convinced him to go inside the cave.  Once there the lad stumbled upon what some scholars call, the greatest archaeological find of the 20th century: the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Soon thereafter or in the years to followed, archaeologists found eleven caves and more than 900 documents at Qumran; of those found, two scrolls were different from all the rest.  In the stead of leather or parchment, they was made of copper, and may turn out to be the ultimate treasure map in all of history.

The Copper Scrolls detail a hidden cache / hoard of gold and silver buried in more than 60 locations throughout the Israeli countryside. Currently (2012) the monetary value is placed at close to $3 Billion, but the historical value as is often said is priceless.

Keep in mind that the young shepherds, who originally found the scrolls, only took one document from the collection to Bethlehem, with hopes of selling it. At first, they had little success, but then an interested party offered to buy it for seven (7) Pounds (about 30 Dollars today). When the scrolls hit the antiquities market, academics quickly became aware of the discovery, and set out to learn where the artifacts had originated. Considering that archaeology digs are such a painstakingly slow process, it was more than 5 years later, on March 14, 1952 that the Copper Scrolls (there were 2) were discovered in “Cave-3” during intense excavation efforts by a collective of universities and academic institutions; they proved to be the only ones of their kind.

As you would expect, the copper was heavily corroded and could not be unrolled; which posed a challenge for those wanting to know what was written on this curious find that was unique amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls. The leaders of the archaeological team were convinced that sending the 2 scrolls to England to the College of Technology at Manchester was the best way to “finding out”.   Once there, they were carefully sliced into 23 individual strips. From that vantage point, it was discovered that the scrolls totaled 30 cm (almost 1 foot) wide and 2.5 meters (just over 8 feet) long. From that point the scrolls were transcribed; immediately there after, a quick English translation was made available. There displayed upon the scrolls was a list of 64 different locations, written in twelve columns.

Each entry / location on the list is thought to be a specific treasure site were a large quantity of gold and silver and other precious objects, like jewelry, perfumes and oils, have been hidden away.

Basically, this means that the nature of the Copper Scrolls are not religious in nature, unlike the other artifacts hidden in the “Dead Sea” caves, but  they appear to be a treasure map of a sort.   This little fact has made the scrolls even more puzzling.  You see, the Dead Sea Scroll collection was / is already a heavily debated discovery and this find makes the topic even more controversial.

In large part the controversy if fueled by the fact that the writing style is unusual or different from the all the other scrolls, thus prompting several researchers to believe these particular artifacts were deposited in Cave-3, at an earlier date than was all of the others.   Add to that: They were two of 15 scrolls found in “Cave-3” of the 11 total caves, and were found near the back of the cave, a good bit apart from the other 13.

The treasure of the scrolls is generally assumed to be in large part the legendary treasure of the Jewish Temple, presumably the Second Temple (destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD), even though the Jewish historian Josephus (37 AD to 100 AD) reportedly stated that the main treasure of the Temple was still in the building when it fell to the Romans.

So why is this hidden treasure yet to be found? Die-hard treasure hunters often serve up any number of reasons, including but not limited to the argument that the Romans might easily have acquired some or all of the treasure listed on the Copper Scrolls by interrogating and torturing captives, which was normal practice according to the same Josephus referenced in the above paragraph; in fact he said the Romans had an active policy regarding the retrieval of hidden treasure.

A second, but perhaps less plausible argument is that the Knights Templar during the First Crusade, dug up all the treasure and used it to fund their order, however such claims are not taken seriously by most scholars.

In truth, it’s allot more plausible to think that the Romans discovered the treasure. You would expect, when the temple of Herod was destroyed by the Romans, they would surely go looking for any treasure and riches the temple may have had in its possession.

In any event, if you’re wondering somewhere within the recesses of you mind why this treasure hunt or venture hasn't been approached by the archaeologist / adventurer, Indiana Jones; the answer is likely, as with many of us, he’s probably just too old.  

Sources:                                                                       http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/347306.aspx                    http://www.philipcoppens.com/copperscroll.html http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/wsrp/educational_site/dead_sea_scrolls/copperscroll.shtml http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_Scroll