Nature 220, 91 - 92 (05 October 1968); doi:10.1038/220091b0

Investigations of the Inks used in Writing the Dead Sea Scrolls

SOLOMON H. STECKOLL

PO Box 746, Jerusalem, Israel.

FUNERAL texts written on stones found inside a grave in the cemetery at Qumran have recently been described¹. This discovery necessitated an investigation of the composition of the inks used by the Qumran community, chiefly because the ink on the stones had faded and could only be seen with the aid of ultraviolet fluorescent lamps, while photographs taken with ultraviolet lighting and infrared film were not satisfactory.

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