In 1947 shepherds visiting a grotto discovered the famous Dead Sea Scrolls of Qumran. In March 1952 in a nearby cave, a scroll of copper was discovered. Contrary to the famous parchment preserved in Jerusalem, this scroll is but one single piece, and it bears a non religious text, a sort of catalogue of treasures, accurately inventoried and assessed, but deliberately vague concerning their location. They must have wanted to hide the temple treasures prior to the temple's destruction in 70 A.D., or perhaps during the rebellion of Bar Cochba in the following century (132 A.D.).

After having been sectioned into vertical bands, deciphered, and published, this scroll was entrusted to the Valectra Laboratory (Electricité de France) for restoration. After electrotyping and casting a mould, a facsimile was created, thus allowing the inscription to be deciphered once again. Valectra Laboratory was also given the task of restoring objects from the site of Mafraq: a brazier, a tripod perfume-burner, and two zoomorphic moulds. Electricité de France not only restored the objects, but proceeded with an archaeo-metallurgical analysis of the alloys, demonstrating the artisans of the Omayyad period employed ancient metal-working traditions.