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  • S. Halevi/Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library, IAA

    Scientists use 3D scans to 'unwrap' an ancient scroll

    by 
    Jon Fingas
    Jon Fingas
    09.22.2016

    The scientific world is developing a knack for reading texts without opening them. Researchers in Israel and the US have conducted the first "virtual unwrapping" of a heavily damaged scroll, the En-Gedi scroll, to read its contents without destroying what's left. The team used a high-resolution volumetric scan to create a 3D model of the scroll, looked for bright pixels in the model (a sign of where the ink would be) and virtually flattened the scroll to make text segments readable.