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X-ray technique 'reads' burnt Vesuvius scroll
BBC ^
| 20 January 2015
| Jonathan Webb
Posted on 01/20/2015 12:10:59 PM PST by rdl6989
For the first time, words have been read from a burnt, rolled-up scroll buried by Mount Vesuvius in AD79.
The scrolls of Herculaneum, the only classical library still in existence, were blasted by volcanic gas hotter than 300C and are desperately fragile.
Deep inside one scroll, physicists distinguished the ink from the paper using a 3D X-ray imaging technique sometimes used in breast scans.
They believe that other scrolls could also be deciphered without unrolling.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
TOPICS: History; Science
KEYWORDS: 3dxray; burntscrolls; epigraphyandlanguage; godsgravesglyphs; herculaneum; mountvesuvius; pompeii; romanempire; vesuvius; villaofthepapyri
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1
posted on
01/20/2015 12:10:59 PM PST
by
rdl6989
To: SunkenCiv
2
posted on
01/20/2015 12:11:16 PM PST
by
rdl6989
To: rdl6989
This is good news! Thanks for posting it.
3
posted on
01/20/2015 12:16:16 PM PST
by
zot
To: Interesting Times
4
posted on
01/20/2015 12:17:47 PM PST
by
zot
To: rdl6989
Been waiting for this to happen. They have been working on it for a while now.
5
posted on
01/20/2015 12:17:56 PM PST
by
Harmless Teddy Bear
(Proud Infidel, Gun Nut, Religious Fanatic and Freedom Fiend)
To: rdl6989
Holy parched papyrus Batman!!!
6
posted on
01/20/2015 12:21:10 PM PST
by
DannyTN
To: rdl6989
Drink....more......Oval......
7
posted on
01/20/2015 12:23:34 PM PST
by
AppyPappy
(If you are not part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
To: rdl6989
When they deciphered it, they found that it said:
8
posted on
01/20/2015 12:23:59 PM PST
by
fidelis
(Zonie and USAF Cold Warrior)
To: rdl6989
Ki...lr...oy Wa...s He....re...
9
posted on
01/20/2015 12:24:11 PM PST
by
faithhopecharity
((Brilliant, Profound Tag Line Goes Here, just as soon as I can think of one..)
To: fidelis
If the list says tomatoes then there is going to be a major upset in the historical studies world.
10
posted on
01/20/2015 12:27:56 PM PST
by
Harmless Teddy Bear
(Proud Infidel, Gun Nut, Religious Fanatic and Freedom Fiend)
To: Harmless Teddy Bear
I just looked it up, I didn’t know tomatoes were from the New World.
11
posted on
01/20/2015 12:29:52 PM PST
by
rdl6989
To: rdl6989; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; ...
Thanks rdl6989. I'm glad they finally started this. What the story doesn't say (and implies didn't happen) is that the idiots of the past couple centuries couldn't just leave the damned scrolls alone and preserved until something else could be figured out. There was a monumentally destructive unrolling program that went on for years.
Related to this, the same house where this private library was found seems to have another storey, and some optimistic speculation goes that there's another room to the library on that floor.
12
posted on
01/20/2015 12:30:01 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
To: rdl6989; Harmless Teddy Bear
..and ‘corn’ better mean ‘wheat’ instead of what the Brits call ‘maize’.
13
posted on
01/20/2015 12:32:37 PM PST
by
Pelham
(WWIII. Islam vs the West)
To: SunkenCiv
During the x-ray, do they have to squeeze the scrolls till they hurt?
14
posted on
01/20/2015 12:33:38 PM PST
by
To Hell With Poverty
(Ephesians 6:12 becomes more real to me with each news cycle.)
To: rdl6989
we’ve been waiting for hundreds of years for this, now we can make tortillas
15
posted on
01/20/2015 12:36:24 PM PST
by
Dstorm
(Palin 2016)
To: SunkenCiv
VERY cool!
16
posted on
01/20/2015 12:43:15 PM PST
by
BenLurkin
(The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
To: To Hell With Poverty
17
posted on
01/20/2015 12:44:59 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
18
posted on
01/20/2015 12:45:57 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
To: rdl6989
19
posted on
01/20/2015 12:46:12 PM PST
by
edpc
(Wilby 2016)
To: edpc
*chuckle.* I was going to say that.
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