The */silver scrolls /*contain words from _the Book of Numbers _and
possibly from the Book of Deuteronomy - all on material that is /*older
*/than the destruction of the First Temple!!
HH: Another source, a Mormon one, has some interesting facts and says
that the text beyond the Aaronic blessing is largely indecipherable but
there are some details:
Before the silver scrolls were unrolled, no one was sure what they
contained. They appeared to be a kind of amulet—tiny rolled cylinders
with a space in the middle of each so that a string could be threaded
through them, then worn on the body. One scroll was just over one inch
in length and not quite half an inch in diameter; the other was less
than half as long and thick. The scrolls also proved to be almost pure
silver—the larger scroll is 99 percent silver, 1 percent copper. (See
Gabriel Barkay, “The Priestly Benediction on the Silver Plaques,” /Ketef
Hinnom: A Treasure Facing Jerusalem’s Walls,/ Jerusalem: The Israel
Museum, 1986, p. 29.)
For four years the Israel Museum laboratories hesitated as to the means
of opening the scrolls without damaging them. Finally they developed a
special method of smearing acrylic glue on the backs and slowly
unrolling them. The museum discovered that the scrolls were covered with
ancient Hebrew writing.
The text proved to be difficult to decipher. The letters are faint and
shallow, and the scrolls are heavily cracked, with missing fragments.
Only 53 percent of the inscriptions on the larger scroll remain.
The drawing of the inscriptions was made by using microscopic
binoculars, taking photographs with different lighting, and enlarging
and projecting photographs onto the wall, so it was possible to copy
part of the text.
The deciphered text on the larger scroll is almost identical to Numbers
6:24–26 [Num. 6:24–26 <http://scriptures.lds.org/num/6/24-26#24>],
commonly called the “priestly benediction.” The deciphered text on the
smaller scroll is a shorter version of the benediction—ten words instead
of fifteen in the Hebrew original version of Numbers—that is reminiscent
of Psalms 67:2:
The rest of the text remains largely indecipherable. Dr. Barkay says,
“We have a general idea, though. It is a kind of apotropaic text. In
other words, it invokes divine protection. We have found the Hebrew word
/hesed,/ which means /mercy,/ and the name of the Lord in the text. The
inscription stresses the Jehovistic concept and concentration of worship.”
Yours,
Harold Holmyard
Re: [b-hebrew] Sun and moon in Joshua 10 (was "Silver Scrolls")
, (continued)