Scientists in the Netherlands have determined the more ancient age of the Dead Sea scrolls

Scientists from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands have found that the Dead Sea manuscripts, which changed ideas about the origin and development of Judaism and Christianity, are much older than previously thought. According to a paper published on June 4 in the journal PLOS One, some of the texts were created in an era when there were still alleged biblical authors.

The new analysis was carried out using the Enoch machine learning model based on artificial intelligence (AI), which can determine the date of appearance of ancient manuscripts based on handwriting.

According to Mladen Popovich, a professor at the University of Groningen, after the work of AI, it turned out that the Hasmonean scrolls were written not in 50-150 BC, but several decades earlier. The texts of the Herodian period also actually appeared at least half a century earlier than historians thought.

The conclusions drawn after Enoch's work radically change the approach to understanding cultural and political processes in Judea of the Hellenistic and Early Roman eras, the newspaper notes.Ru». New estimates in chronology also allow for a different assessment of the process of literacy, the emergence of religious communities, as well as possible links between the texts found at Qumran and early Christianity.

The Dead Sea Scrolls were found by Bedouins about 70 years ago in the Qumran caves of Israel. This is a set of Old Testament books, biblical apocrypha and literature that describe the life of the Jewish sect of the Essenes.

Intelligence Race: how AI is developing in Russia

Last year, the country became one of the top ten leaders in the implementation of artificial intelligence.

In May 2024, it was reported that specialists from the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI and the Vinogradov Institute of the Russian Language had developed a software package that allows searching for texts created in handwritten Old Slavonic. The solution is based on AI algorithms. The online resource "Handwritten heritage of Ancient Russia" has been created to work with texts. Requests on it are processed as in ordinary Internet search engines. The search database includes digitized manuscripts from Russian libraries and museums.