WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. has removed five Dead Sea Scrolls fragments from its exhibit after testing and research has found that they are fake, according to a press release.

The museum said that a German materials research institute performed tests that found that the five scrolls "show characteristics inconsistent with ancient origin and therefore will no longer be displayed at the museum." "Though we had hoped the testing would render different results, this is an opportunity to educate the public on the importance of verifying the authenticity of rare biblical artifacts, the elaborate testing process undertaken and our commitment to transparency," Jeffrey Kloha, chief curatorial officer at the museum, said in a statement.



The scrolls are a collection of ancient Jewish religious texts first discovered in the mid-1940s in caves on the western shore of the Dead Sea in what is now Israel. The massive cache of Hebrew documents is believed to date back to the days of Jesus. With more than 9,000 documents and 50,000 fragments, the entire collection took decades to fully excavate. Most of the scrolls and fragments are tightly controlled by the Israeli Antiquities Authority. But around 2002, a wave of new fragments began mysteriously appearing on the market, despite skepticism from Biblical scholars.

These fragments, they warned, were specifically designed to target American evangelical Christians, who prize the scrolls. That appears to be exactly what happened; a Baptist seminary in Texas and an evangelical college in California reportedly paid millions to purchase alleged pieces of the scrolls. The Oklahoma-based Green family, who run Hobby Lobby and are the museum's primary backers, also bought the fragments. The museum said it has supported two other research projects on the fragments that initially raised suspicion about the fragments.



The fragments have been on display since Nov. 2017 when the museum had its grand opening. Due to the ongoing research, the museum said exhibit labels have included information "to educate guests about the importance of determining authenticity and about some scholars' skepticism of the fragments' authenticity." The display has been replaced with three other fragments that will be on exhibit pending further analysis and research, the museum said.

Reporting from The Associated Press was used in this report.

