Dead Sea Scroll Fragments Just Boy Practicing Forging Mom’s Signature

It remains unknown whether the boy ever succeeded in his quest.

Qumran, Judean Desert, November 21 – Scholars exploring the remaining pieces of ancient parchment not included in the formal collection of writings known as the Dead Sea Scrolls have determined that a large number of the pieces can be traced to a single schoolchild attempting to duplicate his parents’ signatures to forge notes excusing him from school.

More than one hundred fragments of parchment feature all or part of two recurring names, one of a man and one of a woman, and the same handwriting appears on several separate fragments containing messages to a teacher, asking him to excuse a boy’s absence for various reasons.

Archaeologists made the discoveries as part of a renewed effort to find and preserve any remaining ancient scrolls before antiquities thieves can get to them. The arid desert environment has proved excellent for the preservation of the ancient documents, many of which were stored inside clay jars in the desert caves more than two thousand years ago. The new search effort uncovered a trove of parchment fragments in the loose earth of one secluded cave, which archaeologists suspect was also the temporary home of a family with school-age children.

“The letter formation and style of script is unlike the other scrolls we’ve found in the area,” explained team leader Tay Rutz. “These are clearly the work of an inexperienced hand, likely a child, and the content of the fragments is consistent with the behavior of a child – perhaps a precocious eight-year-old. The prevailing hypothesis has these pieces, which so far number one a hundred-thirty, all being the product of the same quill, and all part of a concerted effort to trick a teacher into excusing one Yishai, son of Shimon and Miriam, from his studies.”

Rutz cautioned that it remains unknown whether the boy ever succeeded in his quest. “Obviously the fragments we have found attest only to some attempt to reproduce Shimon’s and Miriam’s signatures,” he noted. “Our team is divided between those who hope little Yishai stuck it to the Man and scored his little victory and those who express confidence that the unnamed teacher saw through the ruse and had Yishai appropriately punished. A third, much smaller faction among the archaeologists, believes the parents themselves may have caught the boy red-handed, and the hoped-for hooky-playing never materialized.”

A representative of the Jordanian government announced that they will file a complaint with various international bodies to claim ownership of the fragments based on the nineteen-year occupation of the area by Jordan that was never internationally recognized. If necessary, said the spokesman, the kingdom will practice forging the necessary signatures to support its claim and obtain redress.

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