Particle Accelerator Reveals Ancient Greek Medical Text Beneath Religious Psalms on Parchment

Gizmodo ^ | 13 March 2018 | Ryan F. Mandelbaum

[blueplum]

If you’re a history buff, you might not know much particle physics. But the two fields share more in common than you’d think. X-rays from a high-energy lab have revealed ancient Greek medical texts that had been stripped and covered with religious writing. Scientists at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have long been using high-powered x-rays at their Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) to analyze ancient texts. This week, they’ll be revealing the text beneath 10th-century psalms from the St. Catherine’s Monastery on the Sinai Peninsula. The hidden words were a translation of writings by the ancient Greek doctor Galen.

[blueplum]

video that shows the hidden text in color at link above

lots and lots of pix here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/slaclab/sets/7215766461115463

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

And you thought that you worked for a cheap company.

[imardmd1]

Time to look at what was on what was erased from the Codex Sinaiticus.

[Windflier]

Finally! A practical use for the Large Hadron Collider.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks blueplum.

[Vermont Lt]

If you went catholic school, then you know that paper has TWO sides.

[blueplum]

let’s try this again - SLAC photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/slaclab/sets/72157664611154637

[blueplum]

lol. I wonder what was going through the monk’s head when he scraped off the writing? Did he realize how old it was? Did the monks write over any other old parchments? It’s like finding a bit of the library of Alexandria - is it the only bit or could there be more?

[Bigg Red]

:)

[Lmo56]

... Drink your Ovaltine ...

[BenLurkin]

It was all Greek to him.

[BenLurkin]

Palimpsest bump

[fishtank]

The Comma Johanneum?

[ZULU]

A lot of them couldn’t even read. They just copied.

[ComradeBork]

This was actually a minor plot device in James Hogan's Inherit the Stars which was published in 1977!

[imardmd1]

The Comma Johanneum?

No, not present in A, B, Aleph; added to B a century later, IIRC.

But any part of Mark 16:9-20, or Pericope Adulterae.

Omissions in Mk. 1:1; Lk. 9:55-56, 24:51.

[lepton]

See “palimpsest “

[ZinGirl]

OMG. thank you for the much-needed laugh! Excellent.

[lepton]

There’s a whole term for a reused vellum - palimpsest.

In many cases there were multiple copies available at the time, making a specific copy less valuable - while the vellum itself was still very valuable.

See also other articles on Archemedes Palimpsest.

[lepton]

Cool book. The end made me sick.