VOA慢速英语--The Hunt for the Next Dead Sea Scrolls

 

In 1947, locals first found the Dead Sea Scrolls² in caves near the city of Jerusalem. The scrolls contain ancient religious writings, some more than 2,000 years old.

Now, in the cliffs above the Dead Sea, archaeologists are digging higher and deeper into hundreds of unexplored caves. They are hoping to find more parchments – and they are racing³ against antiquities⁴ robbers.

The writings are on animal skin, known as parchment, and old paper, called papyrus⁵. They describe Jewish society and religion before and after the time of Jesus.

Oren Gutfeld, an archaeologist at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said, “In the last few years we noticed new pieces of scrolls and parchments arrive on the black market. It drove us to return to the caves.”

In 2017, his team discovered remains⁶ of storage jugs⁷ in an unexplored cave, known as 52B, at Qumran. But any scrolls they may have held were missing.

At about 200 meters above the level of the Dead Sea, the cave is higher than where the scrolls were first found in 1947. It is not known whether the cave may have been a good hiding place.

Toward the back of the cave, volunteers sift⁸ through buckets of dirt in a narrow tunnel that could extend about 10 meters.

“People thought there was nothing left to find...there just wasn’t incentive⁹ to do this,” said Randall Price. He is a professor at Liberty University, a Christian¹⁰ college in the United States that helped fund the exploration. Price said 52B did not appear on previous explorations and could bring some secrets.

Lost treasures

In the narrow streets of Jerusalem’s Old City, Eitan Klein checks on dealers¹¹ to make sure their goods are in an official registry and are not being traded on the black market. He is the deputy director of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

In late 2016, the authority recovered part of a piece of papyrus from the 7th century B.C. with the word “Jerusalem.” The papyrus had been taken from a cave by antiquities robbers.

Klein said, “The assumption is that there are still artifacts inside the caves waiting to be found. The question is, who will discover them?”

In 1952, archaeologists also found what became known as the Copper¹² Scroll¹ in Qumran. Unlike other scrolls written on parchment or papyrus, this was a list of 64 hiding places for gold and valuables, etched on copper.

Hebrew University’s Gutfeld said the treasure referred to what may be from the ancient Jewish temple in Jerusalem. In 2006, his team found two man-made tunnels near Qumran that he believes matched a description of the Valley of Shadow in the Copper Scroll.

One of the tunnels, about two meters high, extended 125 meters underground. No treasure was found, but Gutfeld promised to continue searching in new spots.

He said, “I’m not a treasure hunter. I’m an archaeologist. We hope to find any hint or relationship to what we know from the text of the Copper Scroll.”

New discoveries could also help solve the debate over who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

cliff - n. a high, steep surface of rock, earth, or ice

sift - v. to separate or remove (something) by using a sifter¹³ or sieve¹⁴

incentive - n. something that encourages a person to do something or to work harder

etch - v. to produce a pattern or design by using a powerful liquid to cut the surface of metal or glass

antiquities - n. objects from ancient times

registry - n. a place where official records are kept

assumption - n. something that is believed to be true or probably true but that is not known to be true

temple - n. a building for worship

1 scroll   

n.卷轴，纸卷；(石刻上的)漩涡

参考例句：

• As I opened the scroll,a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded.我打开卷轴时，黄河的景象展现在眼前。
• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements.他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。

2 scrolls   

n.（常用于录写正式文件的）纸卷( scroll的名词复数 )；卷轴；涡卷形（装饰）；卷形花纹v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Either turn it off or only pick up selected stuff like wands, rings and scrolls. 把他关掉然后只捡你需要的物品，像是魔杖(wand)，戒指(rings)和滚动条(scrolls)。 来自互联网
• Ancient scrolls were found in caves by the Dead Sea. 死海旁边的山洞里发现了古代的卷轴。 来自辞典例句

3 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

4 antiquities   

n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯

参考例句：

• There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. 欣赏古物有休息和疗养之功。 来自辞典例句
• Bertha developed a fine enthusiasm for the antiquities of London. 伯沙对伦敦的古迹产生了很大的热情。 来自辞典例句

5 papyrus   

n.古以纸草制成之纸

参考例句：

• The Egyptians wrote on papyrus.埃及人书写用薄草纸。
• Since papyrus dries up and crumble,very few documents of ancient Egypt have survived.因草片会干裂成粉末所以古埃及的文件很少保存下来。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 jugs   

（有柄及小口的）水壶( jug的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Two china jugs held steaming gravy. 两个瓷罐子装着热气腾腾的肉卤。
• Jugs-Big wall lingo for Jumars or any other type of ascenders. 大岩壁术语，祝玛式上升器或其它种类的上升器。

8 sift   

v.筛撒，纷落，详察

参考例句：

• Sift out the wheat from the chaff.把小麦的壳筛出来。
• Sift sugar on top of the cake.在蛋糕上面撒上糖。

9 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

10 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

11 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

12 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

13 sifter   

n.（用于筛撒粉状食物的）筛具，撒粉器；滤器；罗圈；罗

参考例句：

• She sifted thistles through her thistle-sifter. 她用蓟筛筛蓟。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This paper deals with a nitempering process of sifter mesh. 研究了一种筛片的软氮化工艺。 来自互联网

14 sieve   

n.筛，滤器，漏勺

参考例句：

• We often shake flour through a sieve.我们经常用筛子筛面粉。
• Finally,it is like drawing water with a sieve.到头来，竹篮打水一场空。