Digitizing Literary Treasures Leads To New Finds

storagedude writes "The WSJ has a cool article on how the race to digitize literary treasures has led to a trove of new discoveries. Quoting: 'Improved technology is allowing researchers to scan ancient texts that were once unreadable — blackened in fires or by chemical erosion, painted over or simply too fragile to unroll. Now, scholars are studying these works with X-ray fluorescence, multispectral imaging used by NASA to photograph Mars and CAT scans used by medical technicians ... By taking high-resolution digital images in 14 different light wavelengths, ranging from infrared to ultraviolet, Oxford scholars are reading bits of papyrus that were discovered in 1898 in an ancient garbage dump in central Egypt. So far, researchers have digitized about 80% of the collection of 500,000 fragments, dating from the 2nd century B.C. to the 8th century A.D. The texts include fragments of unknown works by famous authors of antiquity, lost gospels and early Islamic manuscripts.'"

Re:FP

[Anonymous Coward]

Oxford scholars are reading bits of papyrus that were discovered in 1898 in an ancient garbage dump in central Egypt.

Meh, how good can they be if this is the stuff that was thrown out?

Lets look for the ones that people thought were worth saving;-)

Does this technology work on Slashdot posts?

[PolygamousRanchKid]

I seem to find many to be unreadable.

Mostly, the ones that I write.

Re:FP

[jamesh]

Meh, how good can they be if this is the stuff that was thrown out?

You're kidding right? (of course you are :) Just imagine the sort of stuff that's going to be in the rubbish!

. Report cards that kids didn't want their parents to find
. Shopping lists
. Angry letters that were written and then thrown out as a form of symbolism
. Overdue bills
. Drafts of existing legendary documents (It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times, etc)

Red Dwarf

[Anonymous Coward]

Good evening. Here is the news on Friday, the 27th of Geldof. Archaeologists near mount Sinai have discovered what is believed to be a missing page from the Bible. The page is currently being carbon dated in Bonn. If genuine it belongs at the beginning of the Bible and is believed to read "To my darling Candy. All characters portrayed within this book are fictitious and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental." The page has been universally condemned by church leaders.

Re:Oxyrhynchus

[commodore64_love]

Troll? The guy was just joking. I mean, look at this recent exciting find (in Ancient Greek):

Things I Need
-------------
bread
fish (fresh not the day-old stuff)
snail
brain of goat
flour (weevils removed)
sheepskin condom
cow dung

Re:Dumpers

[Smivs]

Keep in mind what was going on at the time: The religion of Mithra was growing in the West; the Gnostics were a force to be reckoned with in Egypt; and the followers of the 1st Century BC Yeshu(a) the Nazar were slowly morphing into the so-called Christians.

Ah, I remember it well. It seems like only yesterday.

Re:Dumpers

[martin-boundary]

Methuselah! Is that you? Fancy meeting you here on slashdot! Only this morning I was thinking I wonder what old Methu is up to these days? Remember that time we threw that Roman in the tepidarium? Good times, so what's new?

Fire Extinguisher warning....

[rts008]

Wow!
I mean, wow!
I was ready to jump in this thread to deposit my 'two cents' worth as a Buddhist, but this caught my attention first.

But in the end, is it really important, I always saw such things as things which distract people from the core of the message which over all this mumbo jumbo seems to be forgotten, and the message is one of peace, forgiveness, trying to help others and no violence!

Very well done! If I wore a hat, it would be 'tipped' in your direction.
Thank you for an 'intelligent' and rational comment in the favor of religion. Not easily done on /., but appreciated when pulled off.

That was an effective 'stroke to the heart' of many religious fundamentalist's main arguments defending their agenda while abandoning the core 'cause'.
Again, wow!
And thanks for the lesson!(really-no sarcasm filter needed) That was timely for me.

Forgetting that fact**, or letting it get 'lost in the shuffle' is the one thing we seem to excel at as a species, unfortunately.
Hopefully we will overcome that trait someday.

*doffs 'virtual hat' in MemoryDragon's direction*

**the 'quote' from your post

Catalogue of Women

[KwKSilver]

Bits & pieces of the Catalog of Womenor Eoiai have been around a long time for example [wikipedia.org]. One edition of Hesiod includes the Catalog as well as Theogony and Works and Days. It would be interesting if the whole thing, which I gather to have been about 5000 lines of which we have perhaps 1000, could be reconstructed. Opening invocation (from Wikipedia):

Sing now of the tribe of women, sweet-voiced Olympian Muses,
daughters of aigis-bearing Zeus: those women who were the noblest,
and had sex with gods.

I can see the headlines: "Ancient Scandals Involving Gods and Mortal Women Exposed at Last!!!"

Re:Dumpers

[Eli Gottlieb]

Leto II, you old bastard! How's that whole "pearls of awareness" thing working out for you?

Re:Dumpers

[bob.appleyard]

Your UID is way too high for you to be making such grand claims.