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WOW (Breakthrough in interpreting Oxyrhynchus Papyri)
the Light of Reason ^ | 4/17/05 | Arthur Silber?

Posted on 04/17/2005 6:14:39 AM PDT by bitt

For more than a century, it has caused excitement and frustration in equal measure – a collection of Greek and Roman writings so vast it could redraw the map of classical civilisation. If only it was legible.

Now, in a breakthrough described as the classical equivalent of finding the holy grail, Oxford University scientists have employed infra-red technology to open up the hoard, known as the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, and with it the prospect that hundreds of lost Greek comedies, tragedies and epic poems will soon be revealed.

In the past four days alone, Oxford’s classicists have used it to make a series of astonishing discoveries, including writing by Sophocles, Euripides, Hesiod and other literary giants of the ancient world, lost for millennia. They even believe they are likely to find lost Christian gospels, the originals of which were written around the time of the earliest books of the New Testament.

The original papyrus documents, discovered in an ancient rubbish dump in central Egypt, are often meaningless to the naked eye – decayed, worm-eaten and blackened by the passage of time. But scientists using the new photographic technique, developed from satellite imaging, are bringing the original writing back into view. Academics have hailed it as a development which could lead to a 20 per cent increase in the number of great Greek and Roman works in existence. Some are even predicting a “second Renaissance”.

Christopher Pelling, Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Oxford, described the new works as “central texts which scholars have been speculating about for centuries”.

Professor Richard Janko, a leading British scholar, formerly of University College London, now head of classics at the University of Michigan, said: “Normally we are lucky to get one such find per decade.” One discovery in particular, a 30-line passage from the poet Archilocos, of whom only 500 lines survive in total, is described as “invaluable” by Dr Peter Jones, author and co-founder of the Friends of Classics campaign.

The papyrus fragments were discovered in historic dumps outside the Graeco-Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchus (“city of the sharp-nosed fish”) in central Egypt at the end of the 19th century. Running to 400,000 fragments, stored in 800 boxes at Oxford’s Sackler Library, it is the biggest hoard of classical manuscripts in the world.

The previously unknown texts, read for the first time last week, include parts of a long-lost tragedy – the Epigonoi (“Progeny”) by the 5th-century BC Greek playwright Sophocles; part of a lost novel by the 2nd-century Greek writer Lucian; unknown material by Euripides; mythological poetry by the 1st-century BC Greek poet Parthenios; work by the 7th-century BC poet Hesiod; and an epic poem by Archilochos, a 7th-century successor of Homer, describing events leading up to the Trojan War. Additional material from Hesiod, Euripides and Sophocles almost certainly await discovery.

Oxford academics have been working alongside infra-red specialists from Brigham Young University, Utah. Their operation is likely to increase the number of great literary works fully or partially surviving from the ancient Greek world by up to a fifth. It could easily double the surviving body of lesser work – the pulp fiction and sitcoms of the day.

“The Oxyrhynchus collection is of unparalleled importance – especially now that it can be read fully and relatively quickly,” said the Oxford academic directing the research, Dr Dirk Obbink. “The material will shed light on virtually every aspect of life in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt, and, by extension, in the classical world as a whole.”

...

When it has all been read – mainly in Greek, but sometimes in Latin, Hebrew, Coptic, Syriac, Aramaic, Arabic, Nubian and early Persian – the new material will probably add up to around five million words. Texts deciphered over the past few days will be published next month by the London-based Egypt Exploration Society, which financed the discovery and owns the collection.

Since it was unearthed more than a century ago, the hoard of documents known as the Oxyrhynchus Papyri has fascinated classical scholars. There are 400,000 fragments, many containing text from the great writers of antiquity. But only a small proportion have been read so far. Many were illegible.

Now scientists are using multi-spectral imaging techniques developed from satellite technology to read the papyri at Oxford University’s Sackler Library. The fragments, preserved between sheets of glass, respond to the infra-red spectrum – ink invisible to the naked eye can be seen and photographed.

The fragments form part of a giant “jigsaw puzzle” to be reassembled. Missing “pieces” can be supplied from quotations by later authors, and grammatical analysis.

Key words from the master of Greek tragedy

Speaker A: . . . gobbling the whole, sharpening the flashing iron.

Speaker B: And the helmets are shaking their purple-dyed crests, and for the wearers of breast-plates the weavers are striking up the wise shuttle’s songs, that wakes up those who are asleep.

Speaker A: And he is gluing together the chariot’s rail.

These words were written by the Greek dramatist Sophocles, and are the only known fragment we have of his lost play Epigonoi (literally “The Progeny”), the story of the siege of Thebes. Until last week’s hi-tech analysis of ancient scripts at Oxford University, no one knew of their existence, and this is the first time they have been published.

Sophocles (495-405 BC), was a giant of the golden age of Greek civilisation, a dramatist who work alongside and competed with Aeschylus, Euripides and Aristophanes.

...

Last week’s remarkable finds also include work by Euripides, Hesiod and Lucian, plus a large and particularly significant paragraph of text from the Elegies, by Archilochos, a Greek poet of the 7th century BC.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: archaeology; egypt; epigraphyandlanguage; euripides; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; gospels; greektome; hesiod; history; oxyrhynchus; oxyrhynchuspapyri; papyri; sophocles
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also see http://science.slashdot.org/science/05/04/17/0845214.shtml?tid=146&tid=126&tid=14

apparently we can't post from this other source: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=630165

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxyrhynchus

1 posted on 04/17/2005 6:14:39 AM PDT by bitt
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To: bitt

http://science.slashdot.org/science/05/04/17/0845214.shtml?tid=146&tid=126&tid=14

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=630165

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxyrhynchus


2 posted on 04/17/2005 6:15:58 AM PDT by bitt ("There are troubling signs Bush doesn't care about winning a third term." (JH2))
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To: SunkenCiv; Constitution Day

Really Old Reading Material Ping.


3 posted on 04/17/2005 6:17:58 AM PDT by martin_fierro (Been there, done that, got the refrigerator magnet)
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To: bitt
For more than a century, it has caused excitement and frustration in equal measure – a collection of Greek and Roman writings so vast it could redraw the map of classical civilization.

When they redraw the map of classical civilization they better figure out how to air it on MTV & BET in the form of RAP or it will have absolutely no impact on culture in America.

4 posted on 04/17/2005 6:19:06 AM PDT by hflynn
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To: bitt

"Can I have an 'A'?"

5 posted on 04/17/2005 6:21:07 AM PDT by bitt ("There are troubling signs Bush doesn't care about winning a third term." (JH2))
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To: bitt
They even believe they are likely to find lost Christian gospels, the originals of which were written around the time of the earliest books of the New Testament.

That sounds like it is right out of The Word by Irving Wallace:

Description:
In the Beginning, there was . . . The Word.

The classic thriller of an ancient manuscript, a secret society committed to hiding an explosive truth, and the man who must uncover that truth--if he can stay alive long enough

In the ruins of the ancient Roman seaport of Ostia Antica, an Italian archaeologist has discovered a first century papyrus, its faded text revealing a new gospel written by James, younger brother of Jesus. This discovery will show the world a new Jesus Christ, fill in the missing years of his ministry, contradict the existing accounts of his life--and potentially destroy the foundation of 2,000 years of Western civilization.

First published in 1972, The Word remains a classic of brilliant storytelling, authentic detail and breathtaking narrative power.

6 posted on 04/17/2005 6:24:04 AM PDT by TomGuy
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To: hflynn

they might like THIS:

' . . . gobbling the whole, sharpening the flashing iron'

lol -
next RAP line would be:

'kissin' the hos, slashin' the man, still firin'


7 posted on 04/17/2005 6:24:44 AM PDT by bitt ("There are troubling signs Bush doesn't care about winning a third term." (JH2))
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To: bitt
They even believe they are likely to find lost Christian gospels

Uh-oh...

My theology forbids me to believe that there remains undiscovered scripture in the world.

However, for the same reason I'd like unrestriced access to the Vatican Library and a staff of interpreters, I'd be interested in reading (for notional example) a letter from Luke the Physician to Paul asking how his "thorn in the flesh" was doing, and perhaps naming it (shortness of vision? a poorly healed fracture from being stoned?); or a letter from some otherwise unknown Judean finshmonger to another about how he hadn't seen Simon the Fisherman for years and then saw him preaching on a streetcorner under the name of Simon "the Rock", and how it all seemed to make some sort of sense.

Bests!

8 posted on 04/17/2005 6:24:59 AM PDT by ExGeeEye (Belgium! (4/29!))
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To: TomGuy

I read that book and I really liked it. Liked his other books, too.


9 posted on 04/17/2005 6:29:41 AM PDT by Netizen (USA - Land of the free, home of the brave, where the handicapped are legally starved and dehydrated!)
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To: bitt

10 posted on 04/17/2005 6:30:45 AM PDT by ChadGore (VISUALIZE 62,041,268 Bush fans.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Ping.


11 posted on 04/17/2005 6:37:42 AM PDT by quantim (Victory is not relative, it is absolute.)
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To: bitt
..wait until Woodward (WaPo) hears about this...Nixon/Casey/Ronnie/, "said this..." according to this virgin blank sheet of paper...thereby becoming ("real ghostwriting") another "True Interview" book.
12 posted on 04/17/2005 6:43:52 AM PDT by skinkinthegrass (Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you :^)
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To: AdmSmith

papyri pong


13 posted on 04/17/2005 6:56:54 AM PDT by nuconvert (No More Axis of Evil by Christmas ! TLR)
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To: bitt
This material represents the works of various dead white European males, and therefore not only has no relevance in the modern world, but also deserves nothing more than to be used as fuel to heat the homes of the disadvantaged poor. "Classics" such as these were the basis of many of the evils of the modern world, such as capitalism, private individual ownership of property, and the VERY outdated notion of personal responsibility for ones' actions.
14 posted on 04/17/2005 6:58:00 AM PDT by Bushforlife (I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born. ~Ronald Reagan)
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To: Bushforlife

trash, according to certain cultures...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1385166/posts

Key finds in Temple Mount trash heap


Jerusalem, Israel, Apr. 15 (UPI) -- Archaeologists sifting through piles of rubble discarded by Islamic officials from the Temple Mount have found rare artifacts dating to 3,000 years ago.

The artifacts were found in the last five months in a city garbage dump used by Islamic officials six years ago when they built a mosque at an underground area of the Temple Mount, the Jerusalem Post said Friday.


15 posted on 04/17/2005 7:07:26 AM PDT by bitt ("There are troubling signs Bush doesn't care about winning a third term." (JH2))
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To: bitt

Wow, this is amazing.

What would be more interesting than the plays and poetry would be things like personal letters, which would give us an insight into how these people really lived. I wonder if stuff like that is in that collection.


16 posted on 04/17/2005 7:08:54 AM PDT by exDemMom (Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)
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To: exDemMom; blam; neverdem

quite right...I went to the 'London-based, Egypt Exploration Society' website, can't find any updayes - yet -


17 posted on 04/17/2005 7:11:07 AM PDT by bitt ("There are troubling signs Bush doesn't care about winning a third term." (JH2))
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To: bitt
Let's see how long before Dan Brown (the author of The da Vinci Code) does another novel using these newly-decoded papyrii.
18 posted on 04/17/2005 7:48:36 AM PDT by RayChuang88
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To: bitt

Now if these had been discovered by Muslims, they would have already been destroyed. Can't have proof of any brilliant civilization, other than their own, ya know.


19 posted on 04/17/2005 7:48:38 AM PDT by ChocChipCookie (I don't recognize my own country anymore.)
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EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY UNLOCKS SECRETS OF THE ANCIENTS
The Scotsman | Sat 16 Apr 2005 | (Drudgereport.com) Scotsman.com
Posted on 04/16/2005 5:01:00 PM PDT by tricky_k_1972
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1385203/posts


20 posted on 04/17/2005 7:53:13 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (FR profiled updated Monday, April 11, 2005. Fewer graphics, faster loading.)
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