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. 2016 Sep 21;2(9):e1601247.
doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1601247. eCollection 2016 Sep.

From damage to discovery via virtual unwrapping: Reading the scroll from En-Gedi

William Brent Seales  1 , Clifford Seth Parker  1 , Michael Segal  2 , Emanuel Tov  2 , Pnina Shor  3 , Yosef Porath  3
Affiliations

From damage to discovery via virtual unwrapping: Reading the scroll from En-Gedi

William Brent Seales et al. Sci Adv. .

Abstract

Computer imaging techniques are commonly used to preserve and share readable manuscripts, but capturing writing locked away in ancient, deteriorated documents poses an entirely different challenge. This software pipeline-referred to as "virtual unwrapping"-allows textual artifacts to be read completely and noninvasively. The systematic digital analysis of the extremely fragile En-Gedi scroll (the oldest Pentateuchal scroll in Hebrew outside of the Dead Sea Scrolls) reveals the writing hidden on its untouchable, disintegrating sheets. Our approach for recovering substantial ink-based text from a damaged object results in readable columns at such high quality that serious critical textual analysis can occur. Hence, this work creates a new pathway for subsequent textual discoveries buried within the confines of damaged materials.

Keywords: Micro-CT; digital flattening; digital restoration; segmentation; virtual unwrapping; visualization.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. The charred scroll from En-Gedi.
Image courtesy of the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library, IAA. Photo: S. Halevi.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Completed virtual unwrapping for the En-Gedi scroll.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Segmentation challenges in the En-Gedi scroll, based on examples in the slice view.
Double/split layering and challenging cell structure (left), ambiguous layers with unknown material (middle left), high-density “bubbling” on the secondary layer (middle right), and gap in the primary layer (right).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. A portion of the segmented surface and how it intersects the volume.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5. The importance of accurate surface localization on the final generated texture.
(A) Texture generated when the surface is only partially localized. (B) Texture generated when surface is accurately localized.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6. The geometric parameters for directional texturing.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7. The effect of directional texturing to improve ink response.
(Left) Intersection of the mesh with the volume. (Right) Directional texturing with a neighborhood radius of 7 voxels.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8. Demonstration of stored provenance chain.
The generated geometric transformations can map a region and point of interest in the master view (left) back to their 3D positions within the volume (right).
Fig. 9
Fig. 9. Partial transcription and translation of recovered text.
(Column 1) Lines 5 to 7 from the En-Gedi scroll.
Fig. 10
Fig. 10. Timeline placing the En-Gedi scroll within the context of other biblical discoveries.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. D. Barag, En-Gedi: The synagogue, in New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, E. Stern, Ed. (Macmillan, 1993), pp. 405–409.
    1. Hadas G., Excavations at the Village of ‘En Gedi: 1993–1995. Atiqot 49, 136–137 (2005).
    1. W. B. Seales, Y. Lin, Digital restoration: Principles and approaches, paper presented at the Proceedings of DELOS/NSF Workshop on Multimedia in Digital Libraries, Crete, Greece, 2003.
    1. Y. Lin, W. B. Seales, Opaque document imaging: Building images of inaccessible texts, in Tenth IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV’05) (IEEE, 2005).
    1. W. B. Seales, J. Griffioen, D. Jacobs, Virtual conservation: Experience with micro-CT and manuscripts, in EIKONOPOIIA. Digital Imaging of Ancient Textual Heritage, V. Vahtikari, M. Hakkarainen, A. Nurminen, Eds. (Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters, 2010), pp. 81–88.