Pixels and Parchment: The Application of RTI and Infrared Imaging to the Dead Sea Scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls, one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century, are in constant need of conservation and restoration. An ongoing research project being carried out at the paper conservation laboratory of the Israel Museum Jerusalem is applying the combined potentials of Reflectance Transmission and Infrared imaging to deteriorating fragments of one of the most badly damaged Scrolls. Early tests show that both infrared imaging and RTI imaging have a lot to offer the conservation process, the one offering surface penetration information and the other surface texture analysis. However, it is the fusion of the two technologies together which holds the promise of a unique insight into the “surface beneath the surface”. This technique, while showing great promise, is still in its early stages of testing and definitive conclusions are as of yet not possible.