A Treasure Map
Hidden Secrets
In March 1952, a team of archaeologists discovered a rolled-up scroll made of copper in a cave near the Dead Sea. When the scroll was sawed open and translated, the Dead Sea Scrolls research team realized that it was a treasure map to more than 60 sites of buried treasure in ancient Israel.
Hidden Treasure
John Marco Allegro, the maverick archaeologist who translated the Copper Scroll, believed that it was a genuine map to treasures whose discovery could serve as a “bridge to peace” between Israel and its neighbors. In the belief that the lost treasures of ancient Israel are part of the common heritage of world civilization, he argued that the discovery of these artifacts could help to unite the warring factions of the Middle East.
An Impossible Mystery
The leadership of the Dead Sea Scrolls research team disagreed and condemned Allegro as a foolish dreamer. Dismissing the Copper Scroll treasures are mere “folklore,” the Roman Catholic leadership of the scrolls team argued that the treasures listed on this artifact were nothing more than a fanciful legend.