Kean Wong:
The Israel Museum is displaying the Great Isaiah Scroll on display in honor of Israel's sixtieth anniversary. The ancient scroll, contains the prophet Isaiah's well known verse, "They shall beat their swords into plowshares." This story unfolds in Jerusalem.

Rare sections from one of the Dead Sea Scrolls went on display for the first time in over forty years on Tuesday. The exhibition opened in honor of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations.

U.S. president George W. Bush is expected to attend a reception here at the Israel Museum.

Museum director James Snyder says he's happy to display a message of peace during anniversary celebrations.

[James Snyder, Director, Israel Museum]:
"We have put on display for the first time in 41 years five meters of the Isaiah scroll, including the important verses of Isaiah's message of peace, about turning swords into plowshares, and about nations not lifting up swords against other nations...We are very pleased that President and Mrs. Bush are hosting a 60th anniversary celebration reception at the Israel Museum and that they will have an opportunity to see the Great Isaiah scroll and to receive this message from us."

The Isaiah scroll is one of the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947 in a cave near Qumran, on the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea.

Of the 220 biblical scrolls found in the area, the complete "Great Isaiah Scroll" is one of the best preserved, and the only one containing an entire biblical book.

Tradition says the prophet Isaiah lived in the Holy Land over 2,800 years ago. It was written in 120 BC making it also one of the oldest of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

[Dr. Adolpho Roitman, Exhibit Curator]:
"The Great Isaiah Scroll is the most important cultural treasure of the Jewish nation and one of the most important archaeological discoveries in the 20th century."

The exhibit opens to the public on Monday and will run through the end of August.