PAPYRUS SECRETS REVEALED
Lovers of ancient history and antiquities are all agog to see the results of the new techniques developed to read the charred fragments of the papyrus scrolls discovered in the ruins of the city of Herculaneum (near Naples) during the first excavation campaign in the 18th century.
Herculaneum, together with the nearby city of Pompeii, was destroyed in the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Over 1,800 carbonized scrolls were unearthed at a depth of 37m under layers of volcanic rock.
Most, however, have been destroyed or badly damaged in attempts to open them. However, ultra modern scanning techniques are beginning to penetrate the secrets of the remaining fragments.
Mostly they contain philosophical texts by Ancient Greek authors, but last year Graziano Ranocchio, a researcher at the University of Pisa, found something different...... indications of Plato's hitherto unknown burial place, which was apparently situated in a garden dedicated to him by the Platonic School near the Mouseion (Hill of the Muses), near the Acropolis of Athens. The Italian National Research Council (CNR) has been woking closely on the analysis of the papyrus scrolls along with other important research institutes, including the University of Oxford (UK)
Further surprises and revelations are expected to follow........
Info: https:ps//www.cnr.it