Original subtitles

(dramatic music)

Mastrelli: Hidden in a cave for almost 2,000 years,

A copper scroll,

A treasure map from the time of jesus.

Could these brittle fragments of corroded metal

Hold the clues to finding ancient buried gold and silver

That today would be worth millions of dollars?

But who wrote the mystifying text?

Is the scroll genuine?

If it is, where did these vast treasures come from

And why were they buried?

And most intriguingly of all, could they still be out there?

For centuries, the mysteries of the past

Have kept their secrets.

But there are clues: Cast in gold;

Etched in stone;

Written in blood.

We can unlock them.

Okay.

So, metal engraving isn't my strong suit.

But there is a point to this.

This is a copper scroll.

And this, with a little luck, is the first character

In the hebrew word for gold, "zahab".

And, yep, I'm starting all the way over to the right

Because, in hebrew, we read and write from right to left.

So, why the lesson in 2,000-year old hebrew?

And why the replica copper scroll?

Because this is the story of one of the most

Extraordinary documents ever found,

A document whose author wanted it to last.

Think about it like this: About 2,000 years ago,

Someone feared their world was about to go up in flames

And wanted the words on this scroll to survive.

Jerusalem, home to the israel museum's shrine of the book.

An extraordinary collection

Of nearly 1,000 ancient manuscripts.

First discovered in 1947 by a tribe of bedouins

Exploring caves overlooking the dead sea.

These are the oldest biblical texts ever found.

We now know them as the dead sea scrolls.

(speaking in foreign language)

Archaeologist danny herman has been studying the scrolls

For nearly two decades.

Herman: The dead sea scrolls are by far

The most important discovery ever made in this land.

These are the oldest copies

Of the old testament that we have.

They were written somewhere between

The second century b.C. And the first century c.E.

Mastrelli: The dead sea scrolls predate every other manuscript

Of the hebrew bible by a thousand years.

They provide us with a unique insight

Into a way of life before and during the time of jesus.

Herman: Codes of behavior, hymns, prayers,

A whole library 2,000 years old.

It's an amazing, it's truly an amazing discovery.

Mastrelli: But there is one dead sea scroll

That isn't held here.

This is the jordan museum in amman.

It's a showcase for 1.5 million years of jordanian history.

And its star attraction:

23 pieces of heavily oxidized metal.

But joined together, they form a single copper scroll.

It is the only dead sea scroll made of metal,

And its message has been proven to be even more remarkable

Than the material it's made from.

Situated between jordan and israel is the dead sea.

With its northwestern shores just 40 miles from jerusalem.

In 1952, five years after the discovery

Of the first dead sea scrolls,

A team of archaeologists began an official exploration

Of the caves where they were found.

On a shelf, carved into the cave wall,

A french archaeologist, henri de contenson,

Spotted something unusual.

This was no ordinary scroll.

Unlike every other dead sea scroll found before,

This one wasn't made from leather or parchment.

It was made from metal.

The scroll was so incredibly brittle

That it took four years of careful preparation

And conservation before it could be translated.

But in 1956, the copper scroll

Was finally ready to reveal its secrets.

Schiffman: This scroll is written

In what we call mishnaic hebrew,

Which is a dialect a little bit later

Than the dead sea scrolls,

And so this helps us to understand that this scroll

Was written around the year 70 c.E.,

Whereas the rest of the dead sea scrolls

Were written a little bit earlier.

Mastrelli: If it was created in 70 c.E.,

Then the scroll was written around the same time

As the gospel according to mark.

But, as soon as scholars set to work

Decoding the ancient hebrew, it became clear that,

Unlike the other scrolls, this was not a biblical text.

It was a treasure map.

Schiffman: The scroll lists 60 places

In which specific buried treasures are found,

And it tells you the specifics of how to get

To those treasures when you're at those places.

It starts off by telling you the name of the place,

Like b'harayva and where that is, and amek b'achor.

And then it goes on and it tells you specifically

That there is so much silver and so many vessels, et cetera.

And that's what the scroll is.

Mastrelli: When scholars finally revealed the contents

Of the copper scroll in June 1956,

It caused excitement around the globe.

Schiffman: When they found out what it was,

The newspapers carried it all over the world.

This was this tremendous discovery

Of this map of buried treasure.

Herman: 60 hiding locations of treasures.

Where are they?

Mastrelli: But many scholars raised doubts

About the treasure map.

The huge quantity of treasure listed

Was just too vast to be credible.

Schiffman: The numbers and the amounts are so great

That some people have said that actually,

If this text were literally true

The way they were translating it then,

They would have 25% of the gold that existed in the world

At that time held in this collection.

Mastrelli: At first, scholars assumed that the treasure

Was measured by an ancient weight called a talent,

And one talent was equal to 70 pounds.

But with nearly 5,000 talents of gold and silver listed,

That meant the total hoard would have weighed

Close to 100 tons.

Today, its value would have exceeded $3 billion.

Schiffman: According to the text,

Whoever owned the treasure described would have

A tremendously astronomical amount of gold and silver.

Mastrelli: But on re -examining the text,

Scholars noticed something.

The jewish symbol for a talent was actually very similar

To the shorthand of another standard

Unit of measure, the karsch.

And the karsch is 300 times lighter than a talent.

Suddenly, $3 billion became several million.

Schiffman: It certainly starts to become something

That could be realistic as opposed

To these crazy exaggerated amounts,

And it solves the problem of the treasure

Being an impossible one in terms of its size.

Mastrelli: And it was clear that whoever buried the treasure

Wanted to make sure that it could be found again,

Choosing to list its value and location

On the most enduring material available.

Schiffman: Normally scrolls or texts in ancient times

Are not written on metal; they're written on skin.

The fact that this text was written on copper,

Apparently to preserve it,

Shows that it was something very special.

(dramatic music)

Mastrelli: Scholars believe the copper scroll

Lists ancient treasures from jerusalem's second temple.

It was likely engraved at the time

Of the temple's destruction in 70 a.D.

When the army of the future emperor titus of rome

Cleaned out its treasury and razed it to the ground.

Exactly how much treasure the romans looted is unknown,

But a clue can be found 1,500 miles away in rome, Italy.

The astonishing copper scroll.

A treasure map written at the time of jesus

Divided the academic world.

While some believed it to be genuine,

Others were still convinced it must be fake.

The skeptics pointed to the numerous spelling mistakes,

A rarity in the other dead sea scrolls,

And not something you'd expect on a document

Of such apparent importance.

Schiffman: Right here we have an example of the fact

That the people who were asked to chisel this text,

Presumably based on a written copy,

Sometimes made mistakes.

And here you have a word which means

"normally at the bottom of something" and they've added

A letter that doesn't belong in the word.

Mastrelli: Professor schiffman believes the mistakes

Are not due to clumsy forgers but are the result

Of transcribing information onto a material

That's notoriously difficult to work with.

Schiffman: One of the problems they faced was

That they were taking letter shapes

Which were designed to be written on skin

With a stylus or something like that, or a pen,

And they were putting them into metal with a chisel.

Because of the chiseling, which is sort of

The wrong technology for writing this alphabet,

A lot of letters came out inexact.

And as a result of that, we can't tell which letter it is.

Mastrelli: Most experts now agree that the mistakes

Are simply the inevitable consequence of writing

A complex text using a hammer and chisel.

They conclude the scroll is genuine.

And that means the treasure must be real.

Schiffman: It's very unlikely that anybody

Would go to this whole trouble

If they were just writing down

Some kind of a dream about treasures

That they wished they owned but didn't own.

Mastrelli: Turning to the text, scholars started to see clues

That might reveal where the treasure came from.

Schiffman: It's pretty clear that this text

In some way is connected to the priests,

Because you have mention of priestly vessels

As well as garments that the priests wore.

So, it's pretty clear that we're talking about something

That relates to priesthood and religious worship.

Mastrelli: In 70 c.E., when the copper scroll

Is thought to have been written,

Great wealth and religion can point to just one place.

Jerusalem.

This is the temple mount,

A focus for religious worship for almost 3,000 years.

Around the time the copper scroll was created,

This vast walled platform was dominated

By one giant structure: The second temple.

It was the centerpiece of a kingdom

Ruled by herod the great, a jewish king,

But under the rule of rome.

Herman: The jewish temple in jerusalem,

In the first century, was a magnificent complex.

It was the biggest shrine built in the whole roman empire

At the time it was standing.

Mastrelli: Rising from the rubble

Of solomon's first temple,

Once home to the ark of the covenant, herod's second temple

Attracted millions of worshipers every year.

Herman: The main activity was in front of it

Where all the jewish pilgrims would be sacrificing

The animals with the assistance of the priests,

An ongoing sacrificial activity or, in my terms,

The biggest barbecue in the mediterranean ever.

Mastrelli: And every single visitor was required

To leave a donation in silver.

Herman: Each one of them had to give a half a shekel,

Which is about seven grams of silver,

To the temple, and many gave a lot more.

Mastrelli: In a little less than a century, herod's temple

Accumulated a huge collection of gold and silver.

Known as the temple treasures,

Many scholars now believe that these were the same treasures

That were listed on the copper scroll.

Literary evidence suggests the scroll was written

During the time of the jewish revolt

Against the roman empire.

If there was ever a time to hide

The temple treasures, this was it.

Indeed, in 70 c.E., the army of the future emperor

Titus of rome cleaned out the treasury

And razed the temple to the ground.

Just how much treasure the romans looted is unknown,

But a clue can be found, 1,500 miles away

In rome, Italy.

This is the arch of titus.

Built in 82 a.D., it commemorates the roman army's

Triumphant return from the siege of jerusalem.

It features an inscribed relief

Illustrating the army's spoils of war.

Crucially, it depicts the golden menorah,

The seven-branched candelabrum

Carried by mosses into the wilderness.

It was the single most prized item

Of all the temple treasures.

But were all its treasures lost?

Or did the temple priests anticipate the siege

And smuggle out some of its treasures

Before the romans arrived?

If so, could the copper scroll still preserve

The exact location of over 60 separate hordes?

Schiffman: As far as we can judge, these priests created

A sort of treasure map so that eventually

It would be possible to recover these treasures.

Mastrelli: To date, no genuine copper scroll treasures

Have ever been discovered.

Their absence is puzzling, but a solution to the mystery

May have been found...

In the form of a ghost inscription.

(dramatic music)

Today, scholars agree that the copper scroll,

A treasure map from the time of jesus, is genuine.

And, most likely, that it points

To multiple burial sites of treasures,

Taken from the second temple in jerusalem by its priests,

And then hidden from the roman army.

But of all the locations deciphered so far,

No trace of the treasure has been found.

Why?

The arch of titus reveals the roman army returning to rome

With the temple treasures, but did they really get it all?

Experts now believe this marble plaque

Could hold the answer.

Once part of the colosseum, it holds an inscription

That was written in the fifth century c.E.

But does it hide clues to an even earlier text?

Not carved into the stone but hammered onto it.

Mastrelli: These holes once held pegs

Carrying bronze letters in front of the marble.

The challenge for scholars was to precisely match

The correct letters to the corresponding holes

And reconstruct the ghost inscription.

Mastrelli: In 1995, experts finally cracked the code.

They read the ghost inscription

For the first time in close to 1,500 years.

Mastrelli: The inscription was shocking.

It revealed for the first time

The sheer scale of the temple treasures.

The wealth was so great the roman emperors

Could fund the construction

Of the greatest amphitheater ever built.

The colosseum.

The most impressive building in the entire roman empire.

Mastrelli: The colosseum was just one part

Of a massive building program that took place in rome

After the siege of jerusalem.

Some consider this evidence that the romans

Must have discovered the hidden fortunes

Listed in the copper scroll.

But there are many who are equally convinced

That some of the treasure is still out there.

Could it be waiting to be found?

Herman: I do truly believe this is a depiction of real treasures

And they were hidden, and maybe, maybe some of it,

One of those treasures are still hidden

And waiting to be exposed.

Mastrelli: If he is right, then the treasures listed

In the copper scroll evaded the marauding romans

And the scroll succeeded in the very job

It was designed to do.

Schiffman: There was a very quick economic

And social recovery after the war with rome.

My assumption is, if these treasures were real,

They may have been recovered by the people

Who hid them and used for good purposes

For the recovery of the jewish people.

Mastrelli: So, some think rome got all the hidden treasure,

Others are convinced they got just part of it,

And still others believe the whole copper scroll enterprise

Went off without a hitch and that its treasures

Never once left israel, but were, instead, quietly reclaimed

By the jewish people and used to rebuild their lives.

Ask me what I believe, and I'll give it to you straight.

I prefer my mysteries to be like my martinis,

Stirred, not shaken, and always unsolved.