Scientists Tested the Museum of the Bible’s Dead Sea Scrolls — What They Found Is Terrifying

Sixteen fragments sold as pieces of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Green family, owners of Hobby Lobby, bought every one of them for the Museum of the Bible in Washington. Scholars published them. Then scientists put them under the microscope, and in March 2020 the verdict came back: all sixteen were modern forgeries, written with modern ink on ancient leather. One even copied a footnote from a Bible printed in 1937. I'm Elias Thorne. In this investigation I take you through how it happened, in the order it was uncovered: the real Dead Sea Scrolls found by Bedouin shepherds at Qumran in 1947, the antiquities dealer Kando in Bethlehem, the "post-2002" fragments that flooded the market, the Museum of the Bible's 16 fragments, the German materials lab tests of 2018, the 2020 Art Fraud Insights report (ink running into the cracks, animal-skin glue, fake cave dirt), why carbon dating could never have caught them, and the wider Hobby Lobby antiquities scandal, from smuggled cuneiform tablets to the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet. Some of it is solid. Some of it is still disputed. I'll tell you which is which. 👉 Would you have been fooled? Tell me in the comments. I read every one. 🔔 Subscribe for more biblical archaeology, ancient mysteries and the real evidence behind the headlines. ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 Sixteen fragments. Every one fake. 1:37 The real Dead Sea Scrolls 3:34 A market out of nowhere 5:12 The Museum of the Bible 6:28 A footnote from 1937 7:56 Berlin, 2018 8:49 The 2020 investigation 10:55 Why carbon dating couldn't catch them 12:20 Who forged them? 14:05 Where the case honestly stands 📚 SOURCES • Museum of the Bible, "Dead Sea Scroll Fragments" and press release of 22 Oct 2018 • Art Fraud Insights (C. Loll et al.), "Dead Sea Scrolls Collection Scientific Research and Analysis", Museum of the Bible, 2020 • National Geographic (Michael Greshko): 22 Oct 2018 and 13 Mar 2020 • K. Davis, "Caves of Dispute", Dead Sea Discoveries 24.2 (2017); K. Davis et al., "Nine Dubious 'Dead Sea Scrolls' Fragments from the Twenty-First Century", DSD 24.2 (2017) • Kjeldsberg, Justnes & Deborah, "A Database of Post-2002 Dead Sea Scrolls-like Fragments", Journal of Open Humanities Data 10 (2024); The Lying Pen of Scribes project (University of Agder) • Times of Israel, 3 Oct 2017; Christianity Today, Mar & Nov 2020; Biblical Archaeology Review, Mar & Apr 2020; CNN, Mar 2020; AP, May 2013 • US Immigration and Customs Enforcement / Department of Justice releases on the Hobby Lobby settlement (5 Jul 2017) and the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet (2020-2021) • Israel Antiquities Authority, Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library (discovery history); A. J. T. Jull et al., Radiocarbon 37:1 (1995); S. Anava et al., Cell (2020) ℹ️ The genuine Dead Sea Scrolls found in the Qumran caves (1947-1956) are not in question. The forger of the Museum of the Bible fragments has never been identified, and no seller has been charged; William Kando denies selling any fake. Narration and the on-screen presenter, Elias Thorne, are AI-generated. 📷 IMAGE AND FOOTAGE CREDITS Photos via Wikimedia Commons, used under these licences (creativecommons.org/licenses): CC BY 2.0: Ajay Suresh, IAEA Imagebank, James Emery, Ken and Nyetta, Tony Webster CC BY 2.5: ברי"א CC BY 3.0 pl: Radosław Botev CC BY 4.0: APK, Boris Carmi, Bukvoed, Tiia Monto CC BY-SA 2.0: Carole Raddato, Dan Lundberg, Dennis G. Jarvis CC BY-SA 3.0: Avi Ohayon / Government Press Office (Israel), Denysmonroe81, Farragutful, Frank C. Müller, Liam Ferguson, RichardMcCoy CC BY-SA 4.0: Bahnfrend, Birmingham Museums Trust / Portable Antiquities Scheme, Ckazilek, Dr. Bernd Gross, Farragutful, Fishermade, Fjmustak, Francesco Bini, Fuzheado, GualdimG, Mohammad hajeer, Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, Suicasmo, Tadeáš Bednarz, VIEW - KU Leuven Public-domain artworks, manuscripts and historic photographs via Wikimedia Commons, Art Institute of Chicago (CC0), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (CC0). #DeadSeaScrolls #BiblicalArchaeology #MuseumOfTheBible