A new study combining radiocarbon dating and artificial intelligence suggests that some Dead Sea Scrolls may be up to 100 years older than previously believed. Using advanced carbon-14 testing on 30 manuscripts, researchers found most were older than earlier estimates. These manuscripts were then used to train an AI system named Enoch.

Enoch correctly predicted manuscript ages 85% of the time and, in some cases, even provided a narrower dating range than radiocarbon methods. The AI was further applied to 135 additional scrolls, delivering realistic results for 79% of them. Notably, some texts, including parts of the Book of Daniel and Ecclesiastes, may date back to the fourth century BCE.Archaeologists recovered thousands of fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls from 11 caves near the ancient settlement of Khirbat Qumran, in what is now the West Bank. V. Giannella/De Agostini/Getty Images

While experts highlight the promise of AI in dating ancient texts, they caution that it may not yet fully replace carbon dating. Still, this new method offers a non-destructive way to estimate the age of fragile manuscripts, opening fresh opportunities for studying ancient cultural and religious history.