The mystery surrounding the Dead Sea Scrolls has always been a source of fascination not only among archaeologists but to academicians as well. A group of researchers at the University of Groningen used artificial intelligence to study the Dead Sea Scrolls, and published their findings in the PLOS ONE journal.

Researchers Mladen Popović, head of the Qumran Institute of the University of Groningen along with Lambert Schomaker, professor of University of Groningen’s Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Engineering (ALICE) and PhD candidate Maruf A. Dhali, also of ALICE reported that it’s possible that the text of the Jewish manuscripts were written by two people.

According to the three researchers, their use of artificial intelligence enabled them to access pieces of tangible evidence, which also opened avenues for examining the different compositions copied by each of the ancient scribes.

Approach Used in Examining the Scrolls Using AI

In conducting their study with the aid of AI technology, the University of Groningen researchers compared the look of certain letters utilized in the scrolls, as well as analyzed the ink patterns. The study though, did not offer information about possible identities of the two scribes who wrote the texts.