The Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday that Israeli and German researchers will collaborate to produce a digital copy of the 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls.

 

The project aims to scan and digitally image some 20,000 fragments of the scrolls, creating a giant "virtual puzzle", the Antiquities Authority said in a statement.

 

The 1.6-million-euro project will be sponsored by the Deutsch-Israelische-Projektförderung, a German government-funded research fund, and conducted by scholars and computer experts from Israel's Haifa University, Tel Aviv University and Germany's Göttingen University.

 

The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 11 caves near the shore of the salty lake, after which they were named.

 

The first scroll was discovered in 1947, and the latest pieces were found in the 1970s. Dated to between the third century B.C. and 70 A.D., the scrolls are widely considered by scientists as the oldest written biblical fragment ever found.

 

According to the Antiquities Authority, the project will enable the creation of "a new generation of critical digital editions of the scrolls", hailed as one of the most important archeological discoveries in the 20th century.

 

"The main outcomes of the project will be an enhanced hands-on virtual workspace that will allow scholars around the world to work together simultaneously, as well as a new platform for collaborative production and publication of Dead Sea Scrolls editions," according to the Antiquities Authority.