How Scholars Identify Fake Dead Sea Scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls are among the most important archaeological discoveries ever made, but not every fragment has turned out to be real. This week, Dr. Kipp Davis joins the podcast to explore how scholars identify which Dead Sea Scrolls are fakes, why forgers have been so successful in creating fakes, and why we are so susceptible to forgeries. This is part two of our conversation about how Dead Sea Scroll forgeries began, how experts detect them, and what these mistakes teach us about archaeology, manuscripts, and the modern antiquities market. 📺 Check out Kipp's YouTube Channel: @drkippdavis 👉 Dr. Davis helps us explore: – What traits help to identify fake scroll fragments – How forgers play on scholars expectations – Why radio-carbon dating isn't a magic solution 📚 Reading Recommendations: God's Propaganda: Pulling Back the Curtain on What the Bible Wants You to See https://amzn.to/4qgWoJZ Gleanings from the Cave of Wonders? Fragments, Forgeries, and “Biblicism” in the Dead Sea Scrolls https://themarginaliareview.com/glean... Dating ancient manuscripts using radiocarbon and AI-based writing style analysis https://journals.plos.org/plosone/art... Non-Provenanced Epigraphs I: Pillaged Antiquities, Northwest Semitic Forgeries, and Protocols for Laboratory Tests by Christopher Rollston https://www.academia.edu/472284/Non_P... Non-Provenanced Epigraphs II: The Status of Non-Provenanced Epigraphs within the Broader Corpus of Northwest Semitic https://www.academia.edu/474444/Non_P... ✨Become a Bible & Archaeology patron: Patreon: bibleandarch 📚 Check out our online courses: Patreon: 118539 ✉️ Send us your questions: [email protected] 🌐 Everywhere you can find us: https://linktr.ee/bibleandarchaeology 📣 Affiliate Disclosure: Using the links above may generate a modest commission at no additional cost to you and helps support our educational work. 🎙️ Credits Guest: Dr. Kipp Davis Hosted and Produced by Dr. Jordan Jones Additional contributions by Mary Kathryn Lichty The Bible & Archaeology podcast is made with support from Amanda Stone Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa. 🕒 Timestamps 0:00 Intro 1:40 The processes behind identifying artifacts 15:36 Identifying textual anomalies 22:14 Using scientific tests with the DSS 41:25 Our desire to understand the past