More Dead Sea Scrolls Deceptions

Until 1991, only two copies of the Copper Scroll was available to the public. The first was a in book published by John Allegro. The second was not a photographic duplicate but a reproduction of the scroll which T.J. Milik had transcribed by hand.

Prior to 1993, we worked exclusively with this copy as did everyone else. And, like everyone else, we found that Milik's document contained a number of words that do not exist in modern, classical, biblical or Mishnaic Hebrew. Of course, if the words do not exist, they can't very well be translated! Were these words from some long forgotten dialect?

I asked Zahava Cohen to compile a list of these "words" in the hopes that some pattern might emerge, a pattern which might possibly shed some light on the mystery. Zahava is an ordinary Israeli housewife but her knowledge of Hebrew combined with our library of ancient Rabbinic sources were enough to determine that the "words" were not words at all. They were errors! In the end, Zahava found and cataloged eighty of these non-words.

The critics of the scroll were also aware of these errors and they used them to point an accusing finger at the authors of the scroll. They used the errors to discredit the scroll when, in fact, it was the copy that was in error. They said the authors were illiterate and that they did not know Hebrew. But the original scroll did not contain any errors. It was Milik who had made the errors when he was transcribing the text. If the critics were going to point their fingers at anyone, they should have pointed them at Milik. A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

In 1991, Professor Bruce Zuckerman from the Center for Ancient Biblical Manuscripts was allowed to photograph the scroll. We were quite excited because it was a chance to verify our own work against the original. I spoke with Prof. Zuckerman shortly thereafter and he agreed to meet with us to compare notes.

During the course of that meeting, we had occasion to discuss the work of Al Wolters, a Professor from Toronto University. Professor Wolters has done some very good work on the Copper Scroll and had just finished comparing the Milik text with Prof. Zuckerman's photographs. Interestingly enough, Prof. Wolters found the same number of errors in the Milik document that Zahava had found after her intensive linguistic analysis.

Zuckerman's photographs proved that the Milik team had been substituting his own letters in certain key words rather than transcribing them exactly as they appeared on the original.

When Zahava realized that Milik's team had been switching letters during the process of transcribing, she began re-evaluating the non-words in terms of their context. By using her knowledge of Hebrew and our library of Rabbinic sources, she was able to analyze the sentence according to its content and determine what the proper word should have been before Milik switched the letters. Day by day she methodically reconstructed the text. When she completed this task, it was possible for us to properly translate the scroll without actually seeing the original.

TO ERR IS HUMAN

But how could one man make 80 "errors" in such a small scroll with only 12 columns? Milik's team was certainly not incompetent. Yet two separate sources (i.e. Wolters and Zahava) were able to confirm that Milik's work contained at least eighty mistakes-and not just ordinary mistakes. They were mistakes that would have required Milik to switch letters when he transcribed the text.

Curiously, Milik didn't make any "errors" at all in the segments dealing with the geology or geography of the scroll. His "errors" were limited to words that showed these treasures to be Jewish treasures. Words, like the Tabernacle, that might tend to support a Jewish state and a Jewish religion.

We need to emphasize that these mistakes were not the result of Milik's inability to distinguish characters on damaged segments of the scroll (which do exist). Rather, his mistakes result from using one letter, when there was an entirely different letter on the original. We find 80 mistakes of this type in a scroll that is only 12 columns long to be highly unusual if not suspicious.

The Milik document was supposedly a "copy" of the scroll but with so many changes made to the text, it was more like a gross distortion of the original. The question is: Why did Milik's team switch so many letters? And why were his "changes" limited to words pertaining to Jewish things?

Some have suggested that these mistakes indicate a total lack of competence on the part Milik and his associates. Others believe that Milik's copy of the scroll was intentionally fudged to hide something or further some unknown agenda.

SO WHO DONE IT?

The scroll committee is headed by the Dominican Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem and, in our opinion, no one can question the competence or scholarship of these authorities.

It leaves us, however, with a rather unpleasant alternative. If the switching of letters was not the result of negligence or incompetence, then it must have been intentional. The question is why.

In light of ecclesiastical history, the question may answer itself. Father Roland DeVaux said, "If we give any credibility to the Copper Scroll, treasure hunters from all over the world will descend on Qumran and destroy any hope of proper excavations."

If one considers DeVaux's statement, his motive becomes clear. But DeVaux wasn't the only one who wanted to discredit the scroll.

There were hordes of "yes men" like John Allegro, marching in with well-tailored clich‚s such as: ". . . the Scroll is the work of a madman." Others chimed in, ". . . it's the work of an illiterate scribe that did not know Hebrew;" or a "practical joke;" or "the work of a charlatan." The list goes on.

CONFESSION IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL

Allegro, however, was the one man on the committee who was not a part of the "Holy Order", not really part of the clique. Later, he renounced his statement and admitted in his book that the committee had coerced him to lie about what he believed. He also charged them with removing certain segments from other scrolls. Were the "errors" in Milik's copy of the Copper Scroll an accident or were they part of some larger agenda and, if so, what was the Scroll Committee trying to hide?

For forty years the academic community closed its eyes. They didn't care. Others, however, began to ask questions. It was becoming obvious that the committee was engaged in some kind of subterfuge and that they did not want the world to know what the scrolls really said.

HOW DARE YOU QUESTION THE COMMITTEE

The authorities became more adamant! They denied the allegations that were beginning to surface and ignored scholars who were equal to or even more qualified than they. They refused to give anyone a glimpse of the scrolls. The cloak and dagger cover-up by the Dominican Ecole Biblique was so blatant that it led to the publication of a book entitled "The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception" by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh.

The authorities made no response to the contents of this book or the charges it contained. But that doesn't mean they weren't scrambling behind the scenes!

OH WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE

When someone tries to obfuscate the truth, they usually leave a trail a mile long that points an accusing finger right back at them. The committee is no exception and the trail of disinformation leads right back to their door.

But, if no one cares enough to challenge that disinformation, it remains alive to deceive others and confound those who would benefit from knowing the truth. The use of disinformation is not new. It is one of the best ways to hide the truth and it invariably allows one man or group of men to dominate others.

When disinformation comes from a trusted source, one that is presumed to be reliable and authoritative, it behooves us to put that source under a microscope. If we apathetically continue to pass on their disinformation as though it were true, then we perpetuate the problem.

I believe we owe the Jewish people the truth. We owe it to Israel to reinvestigate the facts. It is our duty to ferret out the truth and expose any wrongdoing that we find. If we don't, then it is an affront to G-d. I personally believe that He will eventually reveal the truth, but only after the parties have committed their souls to one side or the other.

THE TRUTH CAN STAND ON ITS OWN

These principles are important. They are at the core of our relationship with G-d. Like many Hebrew terms, we find them embedded within the very structure of the words that comprise the Holy Language. Hebrew is a sacred language-it is the language of creation-and if you take the time to examine it, you can find the origin of all other languages contained within it.

Words are like houses built with letters that are like stones. Each "house" has a meaning, and its meaning, in turn, is contained within the "stones" that form its foundation. This is very deep but a perfect example is the concept of truth as it pertains to a lie. The very concept is framed within the structure of the Hebrew word and the letters that "build" it.

The word "truth" in Hebrew is Amet. The legs and feet of these three Hebrew letters touch the ground at six points. Each letter has two feet that extend to the foundation of the letter. Each is solid and stable and capable of standing on its own.

In addition, the first letter of the word is the letter Alef which is also the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The letter Mem is the middle letter of the word and also the middle letter of the alphabet. And, the letter Tav is the final letter of the word and the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Not only is each letter capable of "standing" on its own two feet, but the word "truth" is also precisely balanced within the sacred Aleph-Bet, as if to say that it encompasses all that is Holy. It "surrounds" the elements or letters that G-d uses to convey His word to His people, like a sacred covering. G-d builds His kingdom on a foundation of truth. If "truth" is not the core of our existence then we cannot possibly have peace or prosperity in our lives.

The opposite of truth however is a lie. To live a "lie" is fundamentally illogical! The Hebrew word for "lie" is Sheker. Just as a "lie" is factually unsupportable, so too, the letters in sheker have no alternative but to "stand" on only one leg. The three letters that comprise the word "sheker" are the 19th , 20th and 21st letters of the 22 letter alphabet. They are the leftist-most letters of the alphabet before the final letter Tav. Today in Israel, the political "left" aligns themselves with the Arabs and denies G-d, Torah and Israel.

And finally, the word "truth," or Amet shares no letters in common with the word Sheker. Just as the truth has its opposite in a lie, so too, the letters of each word are mutually exclusive to one another, alluding to this opposing concept. The entire Hebrew Language is found to contain these lofty structural characteristics! Ever hear the phrase . . . .

"THEY DON'T HAVE A LEG TO STAND ON"

Misinformation is something that distorts truth. Disinformation is the intentional act of spreading misinformation. Misinformation can be accidental, but disinformation depends on overt lies that stagger and stumble with contradictions. In the end, a lie will fall because it does not have any basis upon which to "stand"-it lacks the necessary "legs" to withstand truth and it is destined to topple on those who rely on it.The distortion of truth often takes a respectable, scholarly form like: "the end justifies the means", "journalistic enhancement," "poetic liberty," or "what serves our cause best is the best for our cause, even if it is not based on facts."

These are the clothes that cover a lie. They always seem to justify themselves, to prove that they are true. Lies are arrogant and offensive. They scream out and shout against the truth. Lies are angry but truth exposes their nakedness and shame. Lies always try to attach themselves to the truth as though the truth itself is some kind of lie. Lies try to discredit the truth with slander. They say that numbers never lie, but then …

HOW WOULD YOU HIDE A CAVE WITH A NUMBER?

Somewhere along the line someone must have realized that it would be easy to hide a cave by playing games with the numbers. No one really understands the complexity and confusion in the numbering of the caves at Qumran anyway.

The authorities identified the caves with letter designations like "Q" for Qumran. Then they added numerical designations like Q1, Q3, Q4, Q11 and so on. The numbers of the caves are arbitrary and have no bearing on their physical location. Nor are they related to the sequence or order of the discoveries of the various scrolls. This results in a great deal of confusion.

Many tour guides have asked me to clear this up for them. It took me over 30 years to clarify, in my own mind, the caves, their numbers, and their locations and I was still wrong. In the process of looking for the truth, I was literally forced to dig out from under the lies. And, in so doing, I discovered the motive for the lies: the caves are located right where the treasures are hidden.

IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T CONFUSE TRY, TRY AGAIN

The alphanumeric designations of the caves should be used to identify the location of the caves and/or their contents. They don't! There is no rhyme or reason for their various designations. That being the case, the numerical designations can not be used for developing a theory as to the location of other scrolls and artifacts.

I wanted to verify what I had been told. I wanted to examine what had been published so that I could compare the locations of the scrolls with the possible location of the things they described. To do this I had to verify not only the location of the cave, but that certain items were found within certain particular caves. There was only one man who could help me: Mohammed Dieb.