European Grant Funds AI-Driven Research to Trace Origins of Dead Sea Scrolls

Professor Malden Popović of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands has received a prestigious 2.5 million euro grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to lead a five-year interdisciplinary project investigating the origins of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The research, conducted in collaboration with the Israel Antiquities Authority and European laboratories, aims to determine where the scrolls were created and written, shedding light on the scribes, knowledge centers, and text dissemination in ancient Judea.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, preserved and studied at the Israel Antiquities Authority in Jerusalem, include some of the oldest known biblical manuscripts. Despite over 70 years of research, the exact locations of their production remain unclear. The new project will explore whether the scrolls were written at Qumran by a secluded Jewish community, brought from other Judean centers such as Jerusalem, or if the caves served as libraries or archives.

Using chemical analyses of ink, parchment, and papyrus, handwriting examination, codicology, and advanced artificial intelligence tools, the team will identify material and stylistic "fingerprints" to determine if the scrolls originated from a single site or multiple production centers. Approximately 250 samples from the Dead Sea Scrolls collection will be analyzed, including papyrus samples from Egypt for comparative study.

The AI will process complex chemical data patterns, integrating them with linguistic and literary features to build a comprehensive model mapping the scrolls and scribes in time and space. This approach aims to reveal centers of writing, study, creation, and knowledge transmission in ancient Judea and beyond.

Professor Popović described the project as the largest AI-based study of the Dead Sea Scrolls' cultural context, enabling new questions about authorship, text origins, knowledge networks, and societal roles. The research builds on Popović's previous ERC project on identifying scribes and manuscripts.

Dr. Elit Cohen-Ofri of the Israel Antiquities Authority emphasized the unprecedented chemical database the project will create, highlighting the importance of understanding the materials to unlock secrets preserved for millennia. The project involves researchers and labs from Jerusalem, Pisa, Naples, Odense, Berlin, Turin, and Leuven.

Israeli Heritage Minister Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu praised the initiative as a national responsibility to preserve and scientifically study the scrolls, which represent a profound Jewish cultural and historical legacy.