[8] The corroded metal could not be unrolled by conventional means and so the Jordanian government sent it to Manchester University's College of Technology in England on the recommendation of English archaeologist and Dead Sea Scrolls scholar John Marco Allegro for it to be cut into sections, allowing the text to be read.
[12] From 1994 to 1996, extensive conservation efforts by Electricité de France (EDF) included evaluation of corrosion, photography, x-rays, cleaning, making a facsimile and a drawing of the letters.
[15] Manfred Lehmann put forward a similar date range to Albright, arguing that the treasure was principally the money accumulated between the First Jewish–Roman War and the Bar Kokhba revolt, while the temple lay in ruins.
"[19] Some scholars believe that the difficulty in deciphering the text is perhaps due to it having been copied from another original document by an illiterate scribe who did not speak the language in which the scroll was written, or at least was not well familiar.
1:1 In the ruin that is in the valley of Acor, under 1:2 the steps, with the entrance at the East, 1:3 a distance of forty cubits: a strongbox of silver and its vessels 1:4 with a weight of seventeen talents.
[14] Although it is difficult to estimate the exact amount, "it was estimated in 1960 that the total would top $1,000,000 U.S."[24] [1] "In the ruin in the Valley of Achor, beneath the staircase that ascends towards the east [at a distance of] forty brick tiles there is a silver chest and its vessels, weighing seventeen talents"[b]According to Eusebius' Onomasticon, "Achor" – perhaps being a reference to an ancient town - is located to the north of Jericho.
[27] The "ruin in the valley of Achor" could be one of a number of sites: the ancient Beth-ḥagla,[c] or what is also known as the "threshing floor of the Aṭad",[28] the most famous of all the ruins associated with the nation of Israel and being about two miles from the Jordan River, or else the ancient Beth Arabah,[29] and which John Marco Allegro proposed to be identified with 'Ain Gharabah,[30] while Robertson Smith proposed that it be identified with the modern 'Ain al-Feshkha,[31] or else Khirbet es-Sŭmrah, or Khirbet Qumrân.
Amongst Jews in the early 2nd century CE, the kikkar was synonymous with the word maneh, a unit of weight that exceeds all others, divided equally into 100 parts.
[32][d] According to Epiphanius of Salamis, the centenarius (קנטינרא), a Latin loanword used in Hebrew classical sources for the biblical talent (kikkar), is said to have been a weight corresponding to 100 Roman librae.
"[35][h] The Hebrew word for "ingots" is 'ashatot (עשתות), its only equivalent found in Mishnah Keilim 11:3, and in Ezekiel 27:19, and which has the general meaning of "gold in its rawest form; an unshaped mass.
Allegro surmised that this place may have been Khirbet Qumrân, where archaeologists have uncovered a watchtower, a water aqueduct, a conduit, and a very noticeable earthquake fissure which runs right through a large reservoir, besides also two courtyards, one of which containing a cistern.
[39][34] [4] "In the mound at Kuḥlith there are [empty] libation vessels, [contained] within a [larger] jar and new vessels (variant rendering: covered with ashes), all of which being libation vessels [for which a doubtful case had occurred], as well as the Seventh-Year store [of produce],[40] and the Second Tithe, lying upon the mouth of the heap, the entrance of which is at the end of the conduit towards its north, [there being] six cubits till [one reaches] the cavern used for immersion XAG"[k]The place-name Kuḥlith is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud Kiddushin 66a, being one of the towns in "the wilderness" that was conquered by Alexander Jannaeus (Yannai), whose military exploits are mentioned by Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews (13.13.3–13.15.5).
Though inconclusive, the idea of covering over such vessels with ashes was perhaps to distinguish these vessels from the others, so that the priests will not inadvertently eat of such produce, similar to the marking of a Fourth-year vineyard with clods of earth during the Seventh Year, so as not to cause unsuspecting people to transgress by eating forbidden produce when, normally, during that same year, all fruits that are grown become ownerless property.
[34] [17] "Between the two houses (variant reading: two olive presses)[v] that are in the Valley of Achor, in their very midst, buried to a depth of three cubits, there are two pots full of silver.
[59][34] [21] "At the head of the aqueduct [that leads down to] Sekhakha, on its north side, be[neath a] large [stone],[aa] dig down [to a depth of [thr]ee cubits [and there are] seven silver talents.
"[ab]A description of the ancient aqueducts near Jericho is brought down in Conder's and Herbert Kitchener's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP, vol.
[65][67][66][34] [26] "[In the ca]ve of the Column, which out of the two entranceways[af] as one faces east, [at] the northern entrance, dig down three cubits, there is a [stone] jar in which is laid up one Book [of the Law], beneath which are forty-two talents.
[68] The 6th-century Madaba Map depicts in it artistic vignettes, showing what appears to be a black column directly within the one northern gate of the walled city.
The identification here remains highly speculative, as Conder and Kitchener in their SWP also mention another place bearing the name Mŭghâret Umm el 'Amûd (Cave of the Pillars), along the south bank of Wadi Far'ah.
[74][34] In 2007, a structure believed to be Queen Helena's palace in the "Lower City" (Acra) of Jerusalem was partially excavated by a team under Israeli archaeologist Doron Ben-Ami,[75] but due to safety issues it was not possible to dig to the depth in question.
[32] "In Dok, beneath the corner of the eastern-most levelled platform [used for spreading things out to dry] (variant reading: guard-post), dig down to a depth of seven cubits, there are concealed twenty-two talents.
Today, the site is more commonly known by its Arabic name, Jabal al-Quruntul, located about 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) west of Jericho and rising to an elevation of 366 metres (1,201 ft) above the level of the plain east of it.
"[am]The location of the Kuzeiba has yet to be positively identified, although there exists an ancient site by its name, now known as Khŭrbet Kûeizîba, a ruin that is described by Conder and Kitchener in ' 'SWP (vol.
[aq] Félix-Marie Abel thought to place Beth-tamar at Râs eṭ-Ṭawîl (grid position 172/137 PAL), a summit to the northeast of Tell el-Ful.
"[ar]In the Land of Israel, dovecotes (columbariums) were usually constructed in wide, underground pits or caves with an air opening at the top, with geometric compartments for nesting pigeons built into the inner-walls and plastered over with lime.
[as][34] [45] "In the cistern [within] the dale of irrigation channels that are fed by the great riverine brook, in its ground floor [are buried] twelve talents.
[90] The nearest place to Jerusalem that meets this description is the area known as the King's Garden, on the southern extremity of the City of David, where is the confluence of the Kidron Valley with a dale known as the Tyropoeon.
[60] "In the subterranean shaft that is [(incomprehensible text)][bb] on the north side of Kuḥlith, its northern entrance, there are buried at its mouth a copy of this writing and its interpretation and their measures, with a detailed description of each and every thing.
"[bc]The words "subterranean shaft" (שית) appear under their Hebrew name in the Mishnah (Middot 3:3 and Me'ilah 3:3) and Talmud (Sukkah 48b),[bd] and where one of which was built near the sacrificial altar on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, down which flowed the blood and drink libations.
Along with this, "formal characteristics" establish a "line of evidence" that suggest this scroll is an authentic "administrative document of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem.