Following the Copper Scroll Project

At a recent speaking engagement I sat next to gentleman who had just returned from Israel. It was his third such trip; he had been assisting the Copper Scroll Project. I was vaguely familiar, having seen a recent interview with Jim Barfield, who heads the project.

The Copper Scroll was discovered in 1954 in the same Qumran area near the Dead Sea where the more well known Dead Sea scrolls were discovered between 1947 and 1956. The scrolls were most likely written during the period from about 200 B.C. to 68 A.D. and were probably hidden away around the outbreak of the First Jewish Revolt (66-70) as the Roman Army advanced against the rebel Jews. Scholars have identified the remains of 825 to 870 separate scrolls containing fragments of every book of the Old Testament except for the Book of Esther. There were 19 copies of the book of Isaiah, 25 copies of Deuteronomy and 30 copies of the Psalms. They have been called the greatest manuscript discovery of modern times.

As my friend explained, one of the most curious scrolls records a list of 64 hiding places throughout the area: They contain a cache of treasure and artifacts. It is the only scroll written on copper instead of papyrus or leather.

I immediately asked if we could have a column about the project. Setting everything up took a few months. Here’s my interview with Jim — a fascinating story with all of the mystery and drama of an Indiana Jones movie!

Jim, your background is not typical of someone that we would expect to be interpreting ancient manuscripts. I’ve heard similar stories of people like Heinrich Schliemann, the discoverer of ancient Troy. Tell us about yourself.

I spent a career in Oklahoma as an arson investigator and received many national awards for my investigation successes. I always had an interest in the Bible and, later, in understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls and how they impacted our understanding of Israel and Christianity today.

After 14 years of intense biblical and historic study, I came across a gentleman named Vendyl Jones. Vendyl was a real character. Loud, overbearing and very intelligent, the Texan was a great host. His wife, Anita, was an angel. We had been invited for a weekend with him through a mutual friend, Miriam Ben Yaakov. The goal for that meeting was to pick Vendyl’s brain about the Dead Sea sect that wrote the scrolls and learn about the leadership of Qumran. Instead, we got a little of that and a load about the Copper Scroll, including a new respect for the incredible metal document.

The Copper Scroll was unique for several reasons. It is an inventory instead of the traditional narrative scripture we’re familiar with. What treasure is described in the inventory?

The amount of treasures described in the scroll varies greatly from scholar to scholar. Amounts are of no real importance other than to verify that a specific location matches the amounts described on the scroll. Most of the locations consist of vast quantities of gold and silver. Some, however, are large amounts of gems and huge pottery vessels full of coins. More significantly, there are some locations that indicate that the sites contain vessels from the ritual services of the Temple of Solomon and artifacts from the Tabernacle of Moses.

It is impossible to determine the value of what is described in the scroll text. Even if we knew the exact weight of a talent, the history behind the objects drives the value of even the stone pots containing the coins beyond belief. If a talent weighs 75 pounds, the total value of the precious metals alone could be worth $3 billion; the talents of gems could dwarf that amount many times over. The value of the treasures described in the Copper Scroll cannot not be measured in currency, it must be measured by historic and religious importance. That’s immeasurable.

Two questions: Where is the Copper Scroll today? Why are excavations of the suspected burial sites so controversial?

The scroll is in the national museum in Jordan. Copies are available for study. All of the sites we have identified are located in and near the ancient site of Qumran. This is now what is known as the West Bank and disputed territory with Jordan. The Israelis have cordoned off further exploration.

In 2013, I was in New York, where I was introduced to Moshe Feiglin, who, at the time, was a Likud member of the Knesset. Feiglin was a strong advocate for the Temple and became enthused when he heard my story, even offering to accompany him on a tour of the site. A few weeks later, the two of us were wandering around the tourist site, a large duffel bag in tow. They visited five spots that I felt were most likely repositories for Temple treasure. One hour later, I ran the data from the metal detector through his computer. Every spot was a hit, and one locus especially so. It showed up on the metal detector like Fort Knox. The Israeli government is still not permitting us to investigate, and there has been a moratorium on archaeological digging at Qumran. We are still working on access and the recent trips to Israel show promise.

I am so thankful that we made the connection locally to this project. This is a project that fits into the prophetic picture of the third Temple yet to be built and all of the events happening in Israel today. If people want more information on The Copper Scroll Project where can they go?

They can go to our website, https://www.copperscrollproject.com/ and we have a book available written by Shelley Neese with a forward by myself. The book is available on our website or from Amazon or other booksellers. We have been interviewed multiple times from everyone from the History Channel to Sky Watch TV and many of those interviews are available on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh3SKF3LPew

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Bob Shillingstad’s religion columns appear Saturdays in The Press. Email Bob: bjshill@mac.com