Deciphering another ancient scroll from Vesuvius

[guy]

 

 

I suppose that deciphering a single word from recent texts after nearly two thousand years is noteworthy. This is part of the Vesuvius project aimed at examining the charred scrolls discovered in Herculaneum.

Quote

Researchers have so far revealed several columns of text, with about 26 lines in each column. Academics are now hoping to read the whole scroll, but can already make out the Ancient Greek word διατροπή, meaning “disgust.” Toth suspects that it will relate in some way to the philosopher Epicurus, as so many of the other scrolls found at the same site have.

 

 

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2466940-volcano-scorched-roman-scroll-is-read-for-the-first-time-in-2000-years/

 

 

Edited February 5 by guy

[indianasmith]

There are SO MANY unread scrolls; if they manage to translate all of them our knowledge of the ancient world will expand exponentially!

[guidoLaMoto]

Good point....For comparison-- over two million cuneiform  clay tablets from Mesopotamia have been found, but only ~2% of them have been translated so far, but look how much that has contributed to our knowledge of the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, etc civilizations.

[guy]

 

 

 

8 hours ago, guidoLaMoto said:

Good point....For comparison-- over two million cuneiform  clay tablets from Mesopotamia have been found, but only ~2% of them have been translated so far, but look how much that has contributed to our knowledge of the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, etc civilizations.

I will express this with as much "cultural sensitivity" as I can muster these days: The potential for rich and extensive literature and philosophy that provides excellent insight into the Greco-Roman world makes deciphering these scrolls exciting. Although many ancient cultures produced abundant written material, much of it consists of bureaucratic writings like tax statements and other governmental documents.

Some poetry from a militaristic culture like the Aztecs, for example, is quite simplistic and unappealing:

My heart is a flower,
it bursts open,
Lord of Midnight,
Oaya ouayaye.

Already the Goddess has come,
our Earthmother has come,
Oaya ouayaye.

The god of corn, born in Paradise,
where flowers bloom,
on the day One Flower,
Yantala yantata ayyao ayyaue
tilili yyao ayaue oayyaue.

Aztec Poetry (2): Three Poems

 

 

[guidoLaMoto]

Sounds kinda like "She loves you, yea yea yea"

Not all ancient writing needs be deep philosophical exercises in thought to give insight into the culture. Many of  those clay tablets are merely accountants' spread sheets, but even those give us knowledge of their commerce & business practices. Lists of kings tell us history. Some are students texts & work sheets. Some are are deeper works of literature.

Let's hope future archeologists find more than just a dribble glass, Whoopee Cushion, an episode of World's Dummest Criminals and a Kamala Harris speech to judge our civilization by.

[indianasmith]

Wouldn't it be marvelous, though, if the Herculaneum library included a COMPLETE copy of Caesar's "Commentaries on the Gallic Wars?"   Or perhaps  his "AntiCato"?  
Or lost works by Horace or Virgil?  Or Sulla's long-lost memoirs?  Or some of the histories authored by the Emperor Claudius?

The possibilities are truly mind-boggling!