In 1883, Moses Wilhelm Shapira, an antiquities dealer based in Jerusalem, brought a biblical text to Europe where he tried to sell it. After Shapira's death, his widow sold the text to a bookseller and its whereabouts have been unknown since around 1900. However, a number of handwritten copies survive today. Recently, a new study of the text made the controversial statement that the text was not only authentic but is a genuine predecessor to the biblical Book of Deuteronomy.