Theo.

Old City of Jerusalem.

It may sound like a cliche, but there really is no place like it.

Choose any descriptor you like.

Evocative, maddening, overwhelming, divine.

You don't walk these streets, you're carried through them to step off.

The curb here is to be swept up in the turbulent waters of history.

It's been a crossroads of civilizations as long as there have been roads to cross.

It was the centre of trade routes stretching from Rome to India and home to diverse cultures living side by side, sometimes in harmony and sometimes in conflict.

But more than anything else, Jerusalem is about faith.

Home to three of the holiest places on earth.

Golden dome of the rock, sacred to Muslims, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site of the crucifixion of Christ.

And the oldest of them all, the Western or Wailing Wall.

All that remains of a 3000 year old Jewish temple.

Okay, understand what was once here?

We have to turn back the hands of time.

So called Temple Mount begins as a natural rise known as Mount Mariah, where ancient Hebrews believe creation itself began.

Over time, a Jewish empire grows around it.

The Great Temple of Solomon is built on the Sacred Mount in 5 86 B.

C.

E.

It's destroyed by invaders.

Rebuilt structure is known as the Second Temple, the center of Jewish faith and home to Jerusalem's greatest treasures, including an archive of sacred scrolls and manuscript.

Centuries later, the Romans conquered the city.

In the year 67 The Jews of Jerusalem spark a rebellion.

In retaliation, the Roman army destroys the second temple.

Now all that remains is the western wall of the temple platform.

The story of the Dead Sea Scrolls begins when Jerusalem looked like this.

I'm at the Israel Museum scale model of the Holy city to meet scroll expert and curator Dr Adolfo Reutemann.

All right, let's talk about this incredible model here.

I feel like Godzilla thing is awesome.

This is the Jerusalem off, Essentially, see in time of the Romans.

So we are kind of in the period of the Dead Sea scrolls here.

Exactly.

They were discovered in a place called Cobra, located on the northwestern shore off the debt, See, about 30 miles from Jerusalem.

Okay, the first that is global, discovered by the end, off 1946 in the beginning, in 1947.

Amazingly, they will discover completely by accident.

As the story goes, a young shepherd is hurting goats in Kumaran, near the Dead Sea.

Passing a cave, he throws a stone to scare away word animal back to the flock.

And here's something shattered.

Curious, he enters the cavern and discovers 10 clay jars holding seven ancient scrolls.

They had no idea, they discover, may be the most significant archaeological treasure off the train.

Essentially, they decided why not to sell.

The scrolls on four scrolls were both by a deal from bait left him an Arab Christian, and the other three, a Hebrew University professor, bought the other three schools for the Hebrew University.

So on both sites of Jerusalem, a Jew and Christians, they had scrolls.

Okay, this is the beginning of a joke.

But instead of walking into a bar, the Christian antiquities dealer resells his scrolls to the archbishop of the Syrian Orthodox Church, facing political turmoil in Jerusalem the archbishop smuggles the scrolls into the United States.

In 1954 he takes out a classified ad in The Wall Street Journal offering the scrolls to the highest bidder.

Israeli scholars race to acquire them, sensing their huge historic and religious value on discourse, we're both for the state of Israel for 1/4 of a $1,000,000 year 55.

The sale sets off a flurry of digging and looting along the edge of the Dead Sea that eventually yields the remains of more than 900 manuscript discovered in 11 different caves.

Now we have around 20,000 fragments off manuscripts.

Unbelievable.

Would you like to see them?

I would love to see them Come with me.

Dr.

Reutemann invites me into the hallowed halls of the so called Shrine of the Book where the world's greatest collection of scrolls is carefully preserved.

We passed through a series of chambers inspired by the caves where the scrolls were discovered and at the end of the tunnel, a revelation.

Look at this place.

What a room!

It feels like you're in a temple, a shrine here in this venerated vault I'm surrounded by a treasure trove.

The remains of some of the best preserved Dead Sea Scrolls are on display.

Amazing, penned mainly in Hebrew, on parchment or papyrus.

The first question is what's written on them.

Let's start with the Mona Lisa off all the scores.

The Book of Isaiah Unbelievable.

Written about 2000 years ago, this scroll is the oldest known copy of a major portion of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible.

And so this is just a piece of it.

How long is the full scroll?

20 feet long, Thes managed to pass all the 66 chapters off the Book of Isaiah like him, our mobile Bible before this was found.

What was the oldest known copy of the Book of Isaiah from Middle Ages 1000 years after these management.

This ancient copy of Isaiah is a big deal to biblical scholars, since it confirms that this part of the Old Testament has remained consistent for thousands of years.

But not all of the Dead Sea Scrolls are copies of the Bible as we know it.

Way have a pocketful stories, new stories that we didn't know before The discovery of the school's diesel document is called the war strong.

These describes the war by the end of history, between the sun off lights on the sum of darkness.

It's very game of Thrones, but this doesn't appear in the Old Testament.

No, it's outside.

The scholars believe that the War Scroll is more than just the description of the apocalypse.

It was a tactical manual outlining weaponry and maneuvers to help good triumph over evil.

And it's not the only scroll with stories that can't be found anywhere else.

In Scripture, we have a new version of the Book of Genesis.

Abraham is presented as an exorcist expelling demons.

Amazing.

In this re imagining of Genesis, Abraham doesn't just speak with God.

He possesses divine powers.

This is a new presentation of Abraham, very new.

The thing that is so mind blowing is that the ink looks like it was written yesterday.

Yes, but most of this course they don't look like this.

Some of them are in very good shape.

Some other very fragmentary materials.

The work at the lab is crucial.

In order to preserve them toe, learn what other secrets are hidden on the scrolls.

Doctor Reutemann helps arrange exclusive access to the only laboratory in the world that actually handles the original manuscript.

Josh.

Very nice to meet you.

For 70 years, the Leon Levy Laboratory of the Israeli Antiquities Authority has been doing the miraculous work of making these ancient parchments readable again.

Thank you for having me here.

This is incredible.

Pamina reveals one of the crown jewels of their restoration work, allowing me to see a scroll as its author did without the barrier of museum glass.

This is the big songs well formed.

Cave 11.

Now don't breathe.

Not a problem, because getting this close to an original scroll literally takes my breath away.

It's mind blowing.

Is there an older copy of the Book of Psalms than what we're looking at right here?

No.

How crazy is that?

Now we'll show you the scrolls that drives a little crazy off all the copies of the book of the trauma me that we have.

This is the only cooperative preserves all off the 10 Commandments.

Wait a minute.

This is our oldest source for the complete 10 Commandments.

Yes.

And is the text complimentary with later versions?

Are there any changes?