Library In Herculaneum

[Fatboy]

Yo, Viggen, is there not an intact library still mostly buried, just sitting there in Herculaneum, due to lack

of funds or something? If so, any sign of someone getting their ass in gear and excavating it? I mean a battered original is worth twenty dodgy medieval copies - somebody has to have the cash and the inclination surely

[Viggen]

yup, there is one indeed, found while googling this piece of info, hope it helps

http://www.aptv.org/Digital/DIGshowinfo.as...7580&NOLA1=OARL

http://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2005_01_0...649637992736078

[Fatboy]

sure does, thanks

[lastman456]

After watching the PBS special on unrolling the Dead Sea Scrolls I have to think that any attempts to unroll deep fried paperwork to be extremely risky, and if its not done right its probably irretrivably damaged. That would be reason enough to go slowly and wait until the right technology came along to make it happen.

 

If anyone ever read Champoleon's accounts of unrolling ancient scrolls, they wouldn't be in so much of a hurry.

[Primus Pilus]

Indeed, its frightening to think how much ancient source material may have been lost due to the simple lack of patience.

[Fatboy]

It seems they have been quite successful with the ones they have already worked on so I think the technology must be there now, but yeah, if they were to go to work on it and end up destroying all the material that really would suck

[lastman456]

It can't be that urgent. Any mail would be 2,000 years late and evenfor the U.S. post office that would be pretty late.

[Fatboy]

Yes, that would be pretty late

I still think they should excavate as soon as they can though.

Viggen posted up a site where it says that several of the worlds leading classical scholars have joined together to form the Herculaneum pressure group

they say " A treasure of greater cultural importance can scarcely be imagined "

and the site itself says " it would be hard to exaggerate what is at stake here: nothing less than the lost intellectual inheritance of western civilisation "

I agree with both statements

Surely you don't think that the worlds only intact classical library is just as well left in the ground while hundreds of comparitively insignificant excavations go ahead?

On the contrary, it seems hugely important to me that we gain access to this unique material, for it will greatly enrich our understanding classical thought and our own cultural heritage - and thats something that should happen as soon as possible

[lastman456]

Actually, all I think we should do is wait until a really good systematic way of getting to and reading these scrolls exists. The claim that the last 10 years has advanced the science only really indicates that it has moved from most primitive stages to somewhat less so.

 

The dead sea scrolls, which were in about perfect condition by comparison, crumbled to dust when first handled. Much that might have been known has been lost.

 

Yes, we might gain trememdous insights, but why not be a little more patient and see what we learn about getting the scrolls open properly?