Two of the world’s most significant archeological finds are in Hong Kong… only one of them is a “facsimile”, which means a copy.
We were pretty excited in Coconuts HK HQ when we heard the Great Isaiah Scroll, the only almost complete Biblical book among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Gabriel Revelation Stone, often referred to as the “stone scroll”, will be on display at the Asia Society Hong Kong from Nov. 4.
While the Gabriel Stone – a cracked limestone tablet on which an ancient text proclaims an apocalyptic vision of an attack on Jerusalem – is absolutely the real deal, we were a little disappointed to learn the actual Great Isaiah Scroll is still back in Israel.
But that’s okay we figured. It’s good they’re not carting the Dead Sea Scrolls all over the world.
Gabriel Revelation Stone
On phoning the exhibit’s PR person to find out more about the facsimile, however, we were relieved to hear that the copy is actually the same one viewed by, and we quote, “the American President… errrr… ummm… what’s the current one again?”
We suggested she might mean Obama. (WTF?!?!)
On being asked when the facsimile was made, after a long pause and a pop quiz of colleagues, the PR exec replied: “We can’t remember, but recently”.
So there you have it.
However, if you’re up for a bit of suspended disbelief, this exhibition is still going to be pretty cool. The Great Isaiah Scroll is the second largest (734 centimetres) of the few manuscripts and thousands of fragments found in caves by Bedouin goat herders in 1947. It consists of 66 chapters conveying the importance of the Prophet Isaiah in Hebrew, and the (actual) scrolls date from between 120BC to 100BC.
“Temple, Scrolls and Divine Messengers: Archeology of the Land of Israel in Roman Times” will be held at the Asia Society Hong Kong (9 Justice Drive, Admiralty) from Nov 4. to Jan. 25 2015. Free admission. More info here.
Seriously, despite all the banter, this will be worth seeing.
