MRS. JOHN ALLEGRO/UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

UNROLLING SECRETS. The Copper Scroll was originally found broken into two rolls. Made of oxidized, rigid copper, it was impossible to read the scroll in its rolled form. So in 1955-1956, Henry Wright Baker of the Manchester Institute of Technology carefully cut the scroll into 23 pieces (shown here). Once unrolled, scholars were able to read and decipher the text. The segments of the Copper Scroll are on display at the Jordan Archaeological Museum in Amman.