Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency:  Newsflash

The Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime teams of Mugla Police Department have recovered a reportedly 3,000-year-old Torah that was destined to be sold on the black market.

According to the local news site Hurriyet’s report, it was learned that a person identified only with initials, U.B, would be travelling to the city of Mugla in south-western Turkey to sell the Torah, a Hebrew Bible, which was hand-written on gazelle skin and decorated with gold leaf.

Despite the fact that making gold leaf is a skilled task, its origins date back to the Egyptians who used it to adorn sculptures and the rooms of the pharaoh’s tombs. In Greece, it was used to decorate statues and in Japan, gold leaf had been used to decorate food and was even included as an ingredient in medicine.

Mugla Police Department Smuggling and Organized Crime Branch Directorate teams knew the license plate, and after that identified the vehicle.

The priceless black and brown leather Torah was seized in the search made on the vehicle when the driver was stopped at a police check-point.

It was determined that the Torah found was hand-written on gazelle skin and had 32 pages.

The Torah, which has Hebrew texts and symbols on its pages, is evaluated to be about 3,000-years-old in the preliminary examination conducted by the Mugla Museum Directorate teams.

The historical Torah has not been priced yet.

While the suspect was taken into custody, the historical Torah which was seized was handed over to the Mugla Museum Directorate.

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