If true, this would make the scrolls the oldest biblical manuscript in the world.
Shapiras claim aroused great public interest and drew newspaper headlines around the world.
But experts were skeptical of Shapiras bold claim.
Shapira had a reputation of peddling counterfeit artefacts.
In another lucrative deal, he sold 1,700 fake figurines, the so-called Moabite forgeries to a Berlin museum.
Shapira tried to authenticate his find by sending them copies to various archeologists and scholars in Germany.
But their decision was unanimousthe manuscripts were forgeries.
Shapira refused and instead, offered the treasure to the British Museum for a million pounds.
The rest were sent to prominent bible scholar Christian David Ginsburg for evaluation.
Four weeks later, Ginsburg came out with a verdict: the manuscript was a fake.
The form of Shapira’s strips compared to a synagogue scroll margin.
An illustration prepared by Clermont-Ganneau
Ginsburg’s conclusion drove Shapira to despair, and he fled London.
I do not think I shall be able to survive this shame.
Although I am not yet convinced that the manuscript is a forgery unless Monsieur Ganneau did it.
I will leave London in a day or two for Berlin.
In both letters, Shapira reaffirmed his belief in the scroll’s authenticity.
Six months later, he shot himself in a hotel room in Rotterdam.
Could those manuscripts have been genuine?
This cartoon appeared in Punch following Ginsburgs verdict.
Many modern scholars still believe that the scrolls were forged.
Dershowitz also traveled to the Berlin State Library to look at Shapiras papers.
Its amazing because it gives you a window into Shapiras mind, Dershowitz said.
Can you imagine what would have happened if no one had had the guts to consider them authentic?
We would not even have the Dead Sea Scrolls today.
The Shapira story is trailed by a tantalizing swirl of what-ifs, Jennifer Schuessler writes forThe New York Times.
What if someone with a less checkered reputation had found the fragments?
What if Shapira hadnt committed suicide?
And of course, what if they really were forgeries?
