The Great Isaiah Scroll, the oldest nearly complete book from the Hebrew Bible, dating back to the second century BCE, was originally created as two separate scrolls, according to new research analyzing the differences between the first eight sheets and the second nine sheets of parchment has shown.

For decades, Dead Sea Scrolls scholars have sought to uncover the secrets of the 7.34-meter-long (24-foot) artifact, one of the original seven scrolls discovered in Qumran in 1947.

In the past, some suggested that the discrepancies between the two parts apparent to the naked eye might have resulted from the scribe transcribing the scroll by copying from different manuscripts. A groundbreaking 2021 study employing artificial intelligence to examine minute differences in the way letters were written suggested that the scrolls were compiled by two scribes who sought to match their styles to each other.

Taking the scholarship a step further, Dead Sea Scrolls expert Prof. Marcello Fidanzio of the Università della Svizzera Italiana says his research shows that the incongruities between the two sections stem from the fact that they were created as two separate scrolls and became one at a later point in time.

“I can now show that the two parts of the scrolls present a different manufacture,” Fidanzio told The Times of Israel in a phone interview ahead of the publication of “The Great Isaiah Scroll: A Voice From the Desert,” which he edited.

The book, which includes articles by leading Dead Sea Scrolls scholars from around the world, accompanies a new exhibition at the Israel Museum that will display the scroll in its entirety for the first time since 1968 in early 2026 (the exact date has yet to be announced).

Since the very beginning, researchers studying the scroll registered some discrepancies between the first section, including chapters 1-33 of Isaiah, and the second, featuring chapters 34-66 (according to the medieval chapter division of the Bible). These differences included text morphology and orthography, and a significantly higher number of parchment repairs in the first part than in the second. In addition, three lines were left blank at the end of the first section.

For his research, Fidanzio paid close attention to the artifact’s material characteristics. His study does not address how many scribes may have taken part in the writing process.

“The scroll itself tells us about its pre-existing........

© The Times of Israel