The Derveni papyrus scroll, discovered in 1962, may help unlock the secrets of early monotheistic religion. This 2,400 year-old scroll was written sometime around 340 B.C. during the reign of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great.
The book contains a philosophical treatise on a lost poem describing the birth of the gods and other beliefs focusing on Orpheus, the mythical musician who visited the underworld to reclaim his dead love and enjoyed a strong cult following in the ancient world.
A team of U.S., British and Greek experts are close to uncovering new text from the blackened fragments that were left after the scroll was burned with its owner on a funeral pyre. Archaeologist Polyxeni Veleni believes that 10-20 percent of new text will be added as they use U.S. imaging and scanning techology to create enhanced pictures of the text.
Source: Yahoo!
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That rocks, Deb. I wonder if they will release their findings (translated)? Try to imagine life way back then, and then writing about it, and then having your work burned with you, so you can take it to the other side—–and then we get to enjoy it. Awesome. Technology rocks.
I hope they do. I think it would be very interesting and educational reading.
Technology is wonderful!
It must be wonderfully exciting for the Greek scholars. I was a Latin major in college, BTW.
Oh, yes. I’m sure this is the talk of the academic and religious “towns.”
Latin, that’s impressive. I took two years of high school Spanish and called it quits. But I admire people who can speak more than one language.