guy Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 (edited) 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indianasmith Posted March 6 Report Share Posted March 6 There are SO MANY unread scrolls; if they manage to translate all of them our knowledge of the ancient world will expand exponentially! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guidoLaMoto Posted March 8 Report Share Posted March 8 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guy Posted March 8 Author Report Share Posted March 8 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guidoLaMoto Posted March 8 Report Share Posted March 8 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indianasmith Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guy Posted March 9 Author Report Share Posted March 9 14 hours ago, indianasmith said: Or some of the histories authored by the Emperor Claudius? Claudius died in AD 54, only a few years before the eruption (AD 79), and I wonder whether Claudius’ works had a widespread readership. If so, his works on Carthage and the Etruscans could be found among the scrolls in Herculaneum. They would certainly give great insights into two relatively unknown civilizations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guidoLaMoto Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 Tyrennika- lost book by Claudius written in Greek on the Etruscan history, culture and language https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrrhenika. If found, it would go a long way to clear up many questions & mysteries about the Etruscans from whom the Romans borrowed a great deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indianasmith Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 If I recall correctly, he completed his work on the Etruscans before he became Emperor in 41. And he also wrote a history of his own family while Augustus was still alive, so that was before 14 AD (I think Augustus ordered that one suppressed because is was not very flattering to the Julio-Claudians). It's a possibility, I suppose. These are Schrodinger's scrolls, in a way - as long as they are unopened we can let them be whatever we want them to be! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guidoLaMoto Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 https://popular-archaeology.com/article/publishing-ancient-roman-style/. -- an informative piece on the Roman piblishing industry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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