The Jordanian government reasserted its claims to 2,000-year-old manuscripts it believes may represent the greatest discovery on the eastern banks of the River Jordan.

Director General of Department of Antiquities (DoA) Ziad Saad announced efforts to reclaim the so-called Jordan codices, 70 metal books bound by lead which Jordanian authorities believe date back to the first century AD and may be the earliest Christian texts ever discovered. The books billed by Jordanian experts as “more historic than the Dead Sea scrolls” are in the possession of Hassan Saeed, an Israeli bedouin who claims that the texts were passed down from his grandfather.

“We have every indication that these texts were excavated from Jordan illegally in recent years and smuggled across the border,” Saad said at a press conference.

With scientific evidence in hand, Saad said authorities are working at every diplomatic and legal level in order to return the books from across the river and into Jordan. According to Saad, the texts and their Jordanian origin were brought to light by David Elkington, a British religious author who was approached by Saeed in 2009 to examine the books’ authenticity.

Most striking were a series of symbols and codes etched across the cover of the texts indicating that the books’ authors were most likely some of the earliest Christians. A seven-branch menorah, which Jews were forbidden to depict at the time due to its location near the holiest of holies, and the imprint of a star hovering above a palm tree are among several markers which Elkington claims signifies that the texts may refer to Jesus Christ. “These rarely seen forms of the eight-pointed star tells you this is the star of the Messiah.”

Elkington then sent samples to laboratories from England to Geneva in order to date the texts. Analyses of crystallised Roman lead and leather material found embedded in the lead leaves pinpointed the books’ origin in the early first century AD, Saad said. Despite the wealth of information revealed by linguistic and metallurgical analyses, Elkington said his team had no indication of the texts origin - let alone that the books may be smuggled goods. It was only after analysts requested the name of the location of the discovery in order to contrast the Roman lead with naturally found impurities did Saeed reveal codices’ origin: a cave in northern Jordan. “All this time we thought they were discovered in Israel.” Elkington then travelled to Jordan, where the DoA and the British scribe worked to locate the cave where the books were uncovered and gather further evidence to confirm the dating.

Authorities are currently awaiting further dust and pollen analyses before going forward with their case, but have chosen to go public after Saeed threatened to sell the codices, Saad said.

Jordanian authorities remain confident with scientific claims bolstered by historical records indicating that the East Bank of the River Jordan served as a refuge for waves of Christians fleeing persecution in the first century AD.

“This gives us very strong evidence of the important role Jordan played in the early Christianity era,” Saad said, The Jordan Times reported.