This morning the Official Google Blog had a post about the new imagery of the Dead Sea Scrolls that they have helped to put online for the world to view. The Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library contains more than 5,000 images of parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Visitors to the site can explore the featured galleries that include the Ten Commandments, part of the Book of Genesis, and 48 Psalms. The Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library archives can also be explored by language, archeological site, and content.

Most sections of the Dead Sea Scrolls that you find on the Digital Library can be seen in detail by zooming-in on the image. A little ruler is included next to each image so that you can get a better sense of the size of each artifact.

Applications for Education
In addition to exploring the artifacts online, your students can learn about the history of the Dead Sea Scrolls through the Dead Sea Scrolls historical timeline. The timeline traces the scrolls from their writing to their discovery in 1947 to today’s work to preserve them.