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In 1883, the discovery of a manuscript of the Bible caused an international stir. But it was quickly denounced as false and forgotten. What if it’s an ancient biblical source text?
This illustration from the weekly magazine “The Graphic”, which reported Shapira’s discovery in 1883, shows … 1 a fragment of the manuscript. 2 one of the parchment strips. 3 a view of the alleged site, probably Wadi Mujib in present-day Jordan. 4 some examples of early Hebrew writing. 5 a prehistoric stone tomb mentioned in the manuscript.
Photo: Artokoloro Quint Lox Limited / Liszt Collection / AKG-Images
In 1883, a Jerusalem antiquarian named Moses Wilhelm Shapira made a remarkable discovery: fifteen manuscript fragments supposedly found in a cave near the Dead Sea. Shapira claimed that these manuscripts, blackened with a pitch-like substance that made ancient Hebrew writing nearly illegible, were the original of the book of Deuteronomy, the fifth of the five books of Moses in the Old Testament. It may even be a copy of Moses himself.
The discovery made headlines around the world, and Shapira offered his treasure to the British Museum for a million pounds, an amount that today equals about 150 million francs. As the museum expert examined the fragments, two of them were on public display and drew crowds of visitors, including Prime Minister William Gladstone.
