World history and culture: Israeli scholars have discovered a secret part in the ancient biblical manuscript

Israeli scholars have deciphered one of the most ancient biblical manuscripts of the times of the First Temple, having discovered its wiped out part. This fragment has not been noticed since the discovery of the texts - about 50 years.

The multispectral photography system allowed examining the text on the back of the manuscript. Up to this point, scholars have studied only the front part, believing that the reverse side is empty. The text is written in ink on the burned clay tablets, which, if not correctly stored, leads to the loss of the manuscript. In the restoration of the manuscript, archaeologists were helped by Israeli physicists by photographing tablets in narrow sections of the visible and infrared part of the spectrum.

It turned out that the manuscripts contain information on financial transactions and activities for the trade in wine.

The manuscripts have been found during excavations in the ancient fortress of Tel-Arad, on the border of the deserts of the Judean and Negev. Radiocarbon analysis showed that the texts were buried in the earth around 650 BC.