The Dead Sea Scrolls-Vendyl Jones and the Mystery of the Temple Incense

In1992: an estimated 600 kilograms of reddish-brown organic powder was found in a sealed cave near the Dead Sea, a find that has raised questions that have yet to be definitively answered. The search team was led by Vendyl Jones, an unconventionial archaeologist who devoted himself to deciphering the Copper Scroll found in 1952, which supposedly had directions for finding the hidden treasures of the Temple. Tests back then identified the power as Temple Incense. But because Jones held a news conference before an official report had been submitted, the antiquities authorities revoked his excavation permit. Jones died in 2010, and though the "incense" was put in storage very little of it remains today. I interviewed Vendyl Jones at Masada in 1992, shortly after the discovery was announced, but then lost track of the story. In this program, Dead Sea Scrolls scholar Michael Wise gives us his perspective as we update the information.