DeadSeaScrolls
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Google adds the scrolls of Genesis and the Ten Commandments to the cloud
Following through on its mission to help digitally preserve the Dead Sea Scrolls, Google announced today that it's working with the Israel Antiquities Authority to bring more ancient text to the cloud. The latest archived entries include an early copy of the Book of Deuteronomy and part of the first chapter of Genesis, which describes the creation of the world. In addition, hundreds of other 2,000 year-old texts outlining the history of Judaism and the life of Jesus will be added to the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library at a 1,215 dpi resolution. Utilizing Google's hosting, this project houses around 900 manuscripts that support commenting, image zoom and fullscreen viewing. Stop by the coverage link below to get up close and personal with these pieces of history. [Image Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority]
Google puts the Dead Sea Scrolls in the cloud, promises they won't dissolve when you touch them
You think your finger grease does bad things to your smartphone's touchscreen? Just imagine the horrors it would wreak on some ancient documents. As promised, Google has saved history the heartbreak of succumbing to your grubby paws by digitizing the Dead Sea Scrolls. Like pretty much everything else these days, the software giant has added the oldest known biblical manuscript to the cloud. Five scrolls are now available as hi-res images, which really you give the feel of their long-dead animal skin parchment. Google is also offering up English translations of some of the documents and is letting users add comments, because apparently historians weren't too keen on letting people pencil in the margins of the real thing.
Google posting the complete Dead Sea Scrolls online
Amateur historians and lovers of the Aramaic language, you are in for a treat: It looks like Google has hashed out a deal with the Israeli Antiquities Authority to scan the complete Dead Sea Scrolls using multi-spectral imaging technology developed by NASA, and place them online for your reading pleasure. Indeed, not only will the hi-res imaging place the scrolls in the digital domain, it might also uncover new letters and words previously unseen when the things were photographed using infrared tech in the 1950s. Alongside the online database of the text, Google plans to include translations and other related documents. You can look forward to seeing the first images become available in the next couple months, with the project taking five years or so to complete.
