And finally… dead loss scrolls

A museum’s prize collection of papyrus fragments purporting to be pieces of the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls have been outed as forgeries.

The 16 fragments held by the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. have been identified as fakes by Art Fraud Insights, National Geographic reports.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in Palestine, date from between the third century BCE and the first century CE.

The Museum of the Bible, which opened in 2017, is currently re-examining its entire collection after concerns were raised about the provenance of some exhibits.

CEO Harry Hargrave said: “The Museum of the Bible is trying to be as transparent as possible. We’re victims — we’re victims of misrepresentation, we’re victims of fraud.”

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