Diamond synchatron to use x-rays to examine Dead Sea Scrolls*

By Nic Fleming and Roger Highfield
Last Updated: 5:01pm BST 12/09/2007

Secrets contained in fragile documents such as the Dead Sea Scrolls are
to be revealed using one of the most powerful light sources in the Universe.

British scientists are using a giant instrument - in essence an
extremely powerful torch and microscope combined - to read parchments
that are too brittle to unroll or unfold.

Part of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Their discovery enhanced knowledge of
Christianity and Judaism

The Diamond synchatron creates X-ray beams 10 billion times brighter
than the Sun, allowing researchers to study chemical and material
samples in more detail than ever before.

It is contained in a flying saucer-shaped building the size of five
football pitches near Didcot in Oxfordshire which opened for business in
February.

Prof Tim Wess, of the University of Cardiff, is using the synchatron to
retrieve information from fragile parchments and to study how they can
be prevented from deteriorating.

Speaking at the British Association Festival of Science in York today,
he said: "This is something we can take forward to try to unravel the
secrets inside documents we are too scared to unroll or are beyond the
point of conservation.

"The dream is to look at a historical manuscript of great value but
sometimes you don't know the depth of the value because until you start
looking at them, because you don't know what's there.

"As a biophysicist, developing these techniques and going to archives
around Europe and around the world, has been fascinating. When you see
these things working, it is a revelatory moment."

Parchment, made from cow, goat or sheep skin has been used to document
the written word for more than 2,000 years. It is still used to record
all Acts of Parliament.

The Dead Sea Scrolls consist of some 850 documents of enormous
historical and religious significance discovered between 1947 and 1956
in caves in the West Bank.

They include ancient copies of books of the Old Testament, ancient
prophecies and psalms of King David and Joshua. Their discovery greatly
enhanced knowledge of Christianity, Judaism and the links between the two.

Prof Wess has been promised access to some of the Dead Sea Scrolls that
have not been fully examined because of fears of damaging them.

He will first carry out studies on less valuable parchments to ensure
using the synchatron does not damage them.

Documents such as the Domesday book, Magna Carta and the US Declaration
of Independence deteriorate with age as collagen in the conditioned
animal skin turns to gelatine.

Prof Wess is using the synchatron to shine new light on this process,
analyse how far the collagen in specific documents has deteriorated and
advise on how best they can be preserved.

He and colleagues use it to take a series of high-resolution X-rays from
different angles. Detectors identify the location of metallic traces
within the ink used to write the documents by measuring how many
particles get through the parchment.

Prof Wess said that within three to four years the technique would be
refined to the point where it could be used to show up text within
pamphlets and even thin books.

This would allow researchers to use it to read some Beethoven and Mozart
that cannot currently be opened because of fears they could be damaged.