07-25-2001, 02:17 PM
Found a Dutch article, I'll translate the gist of it:<br>
In 1753 a part of the Herculaneum library was discovered, it was established in the villa of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesonius and founded by the Greek filosopher and poet Philodemus. At first the importance of the papyri they found wasn't recognized and they were used as fuel <br>
Later they discovered Greek letters on the papyri and they were preserved. About 2500 rolls of papyri have been discovered, but it has been established that the library contains another 3 floors, so thousands more are expected to be waiting. This is quite possibly the most important collection of preserved papyri in the world.<br>
Now a new method for reading them has been discovered, called MultiSpectral Imaging. This technique has already been used on texts in Petra, Jordan, and will now be used on texts from Herculaneum. It is expected that the number of readable papyri will triple by using MSI. The job of decyphering the works has been divided over classicists all over the world. Among the works being 'read' at the moment are works by Philodemus and Lucretius.<br>
<br>
The possibilities are certainly spectecular, I vote for the rediscovery of the missing parts of Polybius, the histories of Strabo and Pliny!<br>
<br>
Greets<br>
<br>
Jasper <p></p><i></i>
In 1753 a part of the Herculaneum library was discovered, it was established in the villa of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesonius and founded by the Greek filosopher and poet Philodemus. At first the importance of the papyri they found wasn't recognized and they were used as fuel <br>
Later they discovered Greek letters on the papyri and they were preserved. About 2500 rolls of papyri have been discovered, but it has been established that the library contains another 3 floors, so thousands more are expected to be waiting. This is quite possibly the most important collection of preserved papyri in the world.<br>
Now a new method for reading them has been discovered, called MultiSpectral Imaging. This technique has already been used on texts in Petra, Jordan, and will now be used on texts from Herculaneum. It is expected that the number of readable papyri will triple by using MSI. The job of decyphering the works has been divided over classicists all over the world. Among the works being 'read' at the moment are works by Philodemus and Lucretius.<br>
<br>
The possibilities are certainly spectecular, I vote for the rediscovery of the missing parts of Polybius, the histories of Strabo and Pliny!<br>
<br>
Greets<br>
<br>
Jasper <p></p><i></i>
