THE INK AND BLOOD EXHIBITION may be coming to the Hardin Center in Gadsden, Alabama - if they can raise the money in time:

Center needs funds to land Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit

By Cyndi Nelson
[Gadsden] Times Assistant Managing Editor

Published: Monday, November 3, 2008 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 9:34 p.m.

With the Big Read, a tribute to air conditioning, a Faberge and Vivian Alexander exhibit and the annual Festival of Trees already scheduled for 2009, the Hardin Center's cup runneth over.

Now, the center's board is faced with a unique opportunity, a challenging funding issue and a short deadline. The opportunity is to bring portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls to Gadsden. The funding issue is a $50,000 price tag. And the deadline is $30,000 of that in hand in just more than two weeks.

According to its Web site, "`Ink & Blood: Dead Sea Scrolls to Gutenburg' is the largest collection ever assembled chronicling Western civilization as seen through one of its most prominent and carefully preserved objets d'art - the Hebrew, Latin and English Bible. The collection includes authentic Dead Sea Scrolls, 5,000-year-old clay tablets, Hebrew Torahs, ancient Greek texts, Medieval Latin manuscripts, pages from Gutenberg's Bible and rare English printed Bibles. In addition to the more than 100 authentic artifacts, the exhibition includes a working replica of Gutenberg's printing press featuring live demonstrations of incunabular printing."

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If they want the exhibition because of the promised Dead Sea Scrolls, they should have a look at them before they commit themselves: the scroll fragments reportedly look like burnt cornflakes. Plus the Marzeah papyrus may be a forgery (see same link).