Latest news with #Enoch
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
New Evidence Rewrites the Origins of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: A scholar from the Netherlands used AI to determine that the Dead Sea Scrolls may be older than previously believed. The new AI model pairs handwriting data with radiocarbon dating information to date ancient manuscripts. In the future, scientists hope the model will be useful in dating other mysterious ancient texts Dating ancient artifacts is very difficult. Experts have a number of techniques they can use to get close, but there are limitations that often can't be overcome without additional information. That said, sometimes you get lucky, like the researchers investigating the famous Dead Sea Scrolls did when they realized that the author wrote the dates of creation directly on several of the pages. However, not every scroll was labeled, and as a result, the undated Dead Sea Scrolls have been much harder for scientists to pin down. But when new technologies arise, things can change. According to a new study—in which scientists used AI modeling to study handwriting styles across ancient manuscripts with known dates—some of the undated Dead Sea Scrolls may be older than previously believed. Mladen Popovic (from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands) and his research team claim that their work not only re-dates some Dead Sea Scrolls, but could open a new way to place undated manuscripts on the timeline of ancient history. The team published their findings in the open-access journal PLOS One. 'It is very exciting to set a significant step in solving the dating problem of the Dead Sea Scrolls and also creating a new tool that could be used to study other partially dated manuscripts from history,' the authors wrote in a statement. 'This would not have been possible without the collaboration between so many different scientific disciplines.' The process started with a bounty of ancient texts used to help build datasets. The team parsed through historic manuscripts from various sites in modern-day Israel and the West Bank and used radiocarbon dating to estimate the ages of the documents. The team then trained a machine-learning model to understand the handwriting styles of each document in direct relation to the historic date of the manuscript. The AI model—dubbed Enoch, after the prominent biblical figure—then merged the two datasets. The goal of the work is to be able to 'objectively determine an approximate age range' of a manuscript based solely on the handwriting style on the document. During testing, the scholars said that Enoch's age estimates for the 135 Dead Sea Scrolls were 'realistic' 79 percent of the time, and non-realistic 21 percent of the time (non-realistic here meaning significantly too old, significantly too young, or indecisive). The Enoch model, paired with radiocarbon dating, estimates older ages for 'many of the Dead Sea Scrolls' than traditional handwriting analysis methods. The authors said that more data and further research could help pinpoint the timelines. 'With the Enoch tool we have opened a new door into the ancient world, like a time machine, that allows us to study the hands that wrote the Bible,' the authors wrote in the statement, 'especially now that we have established, for the first time, that two biblical scroll fragments come from the time of their presumed authors.' You Might Also Like Can Apple Cider Vinegar Lead to Weight Loss? Bobbi Brown Shares Her Top Face-Transforming Makeup Tips for Women Over 50
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
AI Program Rewrites Timeline of Dead Sea Scrolls
A newly developed AI model has allowed researchers to re-date many of the Dead Sea Scrolls, some of which now appear to be much older than previously thought. The University of Groningen announced the news in a June 4 press release. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in the Caves of Qumran, and in the decades since have recontextualized modern understandings of ancient Jewish practices as well as the Bible. Accurately dating the manuscripts is vital to understanding their influence, as well as the time at which they were AI model, known as Enoch, combined carbon-14 dating from 24 separate samples of Dead Sea Scrolls with an AI-driven handwriting analysis to examine micro-level ink-trace patterns on the scrolls. The model then compares known handwriting features with known radiocarbon dates, allowing the AI to understand how handwriting styles evolved throughout time. The AI model can predict the creation date of a given manuscript within 30 years, researchers results astounded scientists. Some scrolls, which were thought to have originated in the Hasmonaean period (150-50 B.C.) are now believed to be from several centuries earlier. Likewise, the Herodian script, which was believed to have been written in the mid-first century B.C., now appears to have been authored in the late second century B.C. "Enoch is the first complete machine-learning-based model that uses raw image inputs to produce probabilistic date predictions for ancient manuscripts," said Maruf Dali, the research team leader. They hope the technology can add similar context to other ancient manuscripts, which might help to understand the political and religious climates of the Program Rewrites Timeline of Dead Sea Scrolls first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 7, 2025
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Many Dead Sea Scrolls may be older than experts thought, AI analysis suggests
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Many of the Dead Sea Scrolls may be older than experts thought, according to an artificial intelligence (AI) analysis. Consisting of about 1,000 ancient manuscripts etched onto animal skin, papyrus and copper, the Dead Sea Scrolls contain the earliest known versions of texts from the Hebrew Bible — including copies of the books of Genesis, Exodus, Isaiah, Kings and Deuteronomy — and date from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D. Now, scientists have used an AI program, dubbed Enoch, to analyze the handwriting patterns on the scrolls, revealing that they may be older than experts thought. The study authors say their findings, published June 4 in the journal PLOS One, are a significant step in dating some of the earliest versions of the Bible. However, not all experts are convinced. "With the Enoch tool we have opened a new door into the ancient world, like a time machine, that allows us to study the hands that wrote the Bible," lead study author Mladen Popović, director of the Qumran Institute at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, said in a statement. "Especially now that we have established, for the first time, that two biblical scroll fragments come from the time of their presumed authors." Discovered by Bedouin shepherds inside the West Bank's caves of Qumran from 1946 to 1947, the ancient manuscripts range from legal documents and calendars to sections of the Hebrew Bible and psalms, written mostly in Hebrew but also in Aramaic and Greek. Previous dating of the scrolls relied on paleography — the study of ancient writing systems — with some undergoing radiocarbon dating in the 1990s. However, castor oil had been applied to some of the manuscripts in modern times to improve their legibility. This oil is also a contaminant that can disrupt radiocarbon dating, so the results from these techniques remain a topic of debate. Related: Ancient 'curse tablet' may show earliest Hebrew name of God In an attempt to clear things up, the researchers first cleaned 30 samples from different manuscripts to remove the castor oil, before successfully radiocarbon-dating 27 of them. They found that two of these scroll fragments were younger than past analyses suggested but that other fragments were older. Then, the scientists set about creating their Enoch AI model. Enoch was trained on the handwriting of 24 of the newly dated manuscripts and their radiocarbon dates. After verifying the model with 13 further selected images from the same manuscripts, the researchers presented it with 135 undated manuscripts. They found that it agreed with the estimates made by scholars 79% of the time. Yet the results for the remaining 21% of the scrolls point to a mystery, with Enoch giving them a range of dates that could make them older, hard to determine, or even a century younger than initial estimates. They also suggest that two different writing styles, known as the Hasmonean and Herodian scripts (named after the Jewish Hasmonean dynasty and Herod, the Roman client king, respectively), could have overlapped for longer than previously thought. Nonetheless, Enoch also corroborates earlier paleography, notably for a scroll titled 4Q114, which contains three chapters from the Book of Daniel. Analysts initially estimated 4Q114's writing to have been inked during the height of the Maccabee uprising in 165 B.C. (a part of the Hanukkah story) due to its description of Antiochus IV's desecration of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. The AI model's estimate also falls within this range, between 230 B.C. and 160 B.C. But for some paleographers, the results are hardly surprising. RELATED STORIES —2,700-year-old archaeological site in Jordan may be a biblical place visited by King David —20 of the most bizarre stories from the Bible —Ancient Yahweh worshipper's jar bears Hebrew script in biblical city "The results of this study are very interesting, and presumably important, but not Earth-shattering," Christopher Rollston,a professor and chair of biblical and Near Eastern languages and civilizations at The George Washington University, told Live Science in an email. "Most of the conclusions of this article also dovetail with what the great palaeographers in the field, such as the late Frank Moore Cross, had already stated more than 60 years ago." Rollston also criticized the notion that the new tool could enable researchers to "study the hands that wrote the Bible" as "at the very least, gross hyperbole." No manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible date to the First Temple period (circa 1200 to 586 B.C.), when it was originally composed, or to the early parts of the Second Temple period (538 B.C. to A.D. 70), he said. He noted that AI can be useful, but it should only be one of many techniques used to study ancient texts like the Dead Sea Scrolls. "Enoch could and should never be the only tool in the toolbox of someone wishing to determine the date for the writing of a manuscript. After all, human handwriting, and all of its variations and idiosyncratic features, is a deeply human thing," Rollston added. "Machines can be helpful in isolating features of a script, but the presence of a gifted palaeographer is at least as valuable as a machine-learning tool."
West Australian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company presents Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman's The 7 Stages Of Grieving in Subiaco
Powerful Aboriginal Australia story The 7 Stages Of Grieving has become a theatrical classic over the past 30 years as a way for directors to showcase their skills and shine a light on a talented actor in the sole role of narrator. While the one-woman play written by Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman may not have originated with such lofty ambition, it is nonetheless an incredible honour for the close friends who met during their days at Queensland University of Technology. 'We were looking for a project to do together and then my grandmother died,' 56-year-old Enoch says, a proud Quandamooka man from Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah). 'When I was explaining to Deborah the grief ritual that my family undertakes, she said 'That might be what we need to make the show on' and off we went from there.' Presented by Kooemba Jdarra Indigenous Performing Arts, The 7 Stages Of Grieving first premiered in Brisbane in 1995 with Enoch directing Mailman as she stood alone on stage tracing the seven phases of Aboriginal history — Dreaming, Invasion, Genocide, Protection, Assimilation, Self-Determination and Reconciliation. 'We were so caught up in it and didn't even know what it was,' Enoch shares. 'But there's a story I tell about opening night where this elder stood up clapping and then walked down the stairs to the stage, walked onto the stage and grabbed Deborah, hugging her, crying. There was this moment where we went, 'Oh, we've done something more than just make a show here'. 'As a country in 1995, we were on this journey of reconciliation. There was a sense of hope, a sense of what would go forward, but then a very complex sense of 'What do we leave behind? What do we grieve for in our history, that needs to be told?' It's interesting now, after the referendum in particular, we're in this moment of saying 'Actually we're engaged in truth-telling'. We're trying to tell the truth, and the best way to tell the truth is by telling the stories of our families.' Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company is presenting a 30th anniversary season of The 7 Stages Of Grieving with the WA premiere featuring an all-female team of creatives, as director Bobbi Henry works with actors Shontane Farmer and Shahnee Hunter performing as narrator in alternating shows. Enoch will be in Perth for Yirra Yaakin's opening night, the play coinciding with a writers' retreat here for another he is working on, and visiting his long-term and long-distance partner, WA Ballet guest artistic director David McAllister. The playwright defines the production as a collection of stories that has an accumulative emotional impact on an audience. It features a series of 23 vignettes to express the grief, but also the joy, of being Aboriginal in this country. 'Someone told me that what makes it a classic is that it's open to interpretation and open to people finding their own way through it,' he says. 'Deborah and I have always been open to allowing productions to shift the order of scenes and keep it alive for the now, because what was right 30 years ago, may not be right now. 'When I look back over my body of work, I am fascinated by women and fascinated by women's perspectives on stories, even though I'm a man. This notion of how women see the world differently. There's a toughness in women that also goes hand in hand with a vulnerability. Not to say men can't do that, but there's something about watching a woman go through the emotional highs and lows and the anger of it, it says something about our history and the resilience of women.' Enoch's own anger as a young man, resulting in violent and antisocial behaviours as a tween, is what led him to find the therapeutic benefits of the arts, discovering a release through storytelling. 'I found that the art could actually heal me, and by telling my story, I could actually help others,' he adds. Starting out as an actor, he soon discovered he did not respond well to the required repetition, something he takes his hat off to other actors for, especially Mailman who toured in The 7 Stages Of Grieving sporadically for six years. 'I remember her saying at one point, 'I don't know if I can cry anymore' and I said, 'Oh, you're an actor, you'll find a way', but there's something in going over that emotional territory where I'd rather be moving on to the next thing,' Enoch says. 'I love Deborah. We use the word 'love' flippantly, but there is such a deep bond and love for that woman, and I am so happy for all of her success. 'I'm incredibly grateful for 7 Stages. I call it 'the ambassador piece' . . . it gave me every other job for the next 10 years.' The 7 Stages Of Grieving is at Subiaco Arts Centre, July 3 to 12. Tickets at
Fox News
4 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Fox News
Dead Sea Scrolls could be even older than previously thought, according to new study
Print Close By Andrea Margolis Published June 05, 2025 The Dead Sea Scrolls may be even older than researchers thought, according to a new study driven by an artificial intelligence (AI) model. A group of researchers from the Netherlands, Italy and Denmark recently published their findings in the journal PLOS One on June 4. The researchers said they developed an AI-based date-prediction model named Enoch, a nod to the biblical patriarch of the same name. ANCIENT CHRISTIAN FIGURINES DISCOVERED IN 1,500-YEAR-OLD DESERT GRAVES Enoch "was trained as a machine learning-based date-prediction model applying Bayesian ridge regression on established handwriting-style descriptors," according to the study. In order to date the scrolls, the model analyzed each one's handwriting style. Researchers also integrated radiocarbon dating methods — and found that most of the scrolls were at least a generation older than previously thought. Previous estimates placed the scrolls between 150 and 50 B.C., but the model found that many of the scrolls date to around 200 B.C. "There are no compelling paleographic or historical reasons that preclude these older dates as reliable time markers." "Enoch's style-based predictions are often older than traditionally assumed paleographic estimates, leading to a new chronology of the scrolls and the re-dating of ancient Jewish key texts that contribute to current debates on Jewish and Christian origins," the paper states. LITTLE GIRL DISCOVERS 3,800-YEAR-OLD AMULET WITH TIES TO BIBLICAL PEOPLE DURING FAMILY TRIP The researchers also indicate that the new dates are "realistic." "There are no compelling paleographic or historical reasons that preclude these older dates as reliable time markers," the authors said. For more Lifestyle articles, visit The scrolls, found in desert caves near the Dead Sea in the 1940s and 1950s, date between the third century B.C. to the first century A.D. They offer a wealth of knowledge about ancient Judaism, with many religious texts during the Second Temple period that were previously unknown. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER Since their discovery, the scrolls have attracted a great amount of interest from both scholars and the public at large. In 2021, Israeli researchers uncovered dozens of new Dead Sea Scroll fragments. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In April, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library showcased a special collection of eight ancient Jewish manuscripts as part of its exhibition on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Print Close URL
