Palimpsest
June 5th 2006 03:23
(PAL-imp-sest) n.
A palimpsest is a manuscript page, scroll, or book that has been written on, scraped off, and used again. The word palimpsest comes through Latin from two Greek roots (palin psEn) meaning "scraped again."
Scholars of the nineteenth century used chemical means to read palimpsests that were sometimes very destructive, using tincture of gall or later, ammonium hydrosulfate. Modern methods using ultraviolet and photography are less damaging.
Famous palpimsets include:
* The Ambrosian Plautus, in rustic capitals, of the 4th or 5th century, re-written with portions of the Bible in the 9th century, Ambrosian Library.
* The Archimedes Palimpsest, a work of the great Syracusan mathematician copied onto parchment in the 10th century and overwritten by a liturgical text in the 12th century.
* The Arian fragment of the Vatican, of the 5th century
*This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. It came from the wikipedia page for Palimpsests.
**This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Palpimpsests.
A section of the Codex Ephraemi from the National Library in Paris, containing Matt. 20:16-23. (from Wikipedia)
Scholars of the nineteenth century used chemical means to read palimpsests that were sometimes very destructive, using tincture of gall or later, ammonium hydrosulfate. Modern methods using ultraviolet and photography are less damaging.
Famous palpimsets include:
* The Ambrosian Plautus, in rustic capitals, of the 4th or 5th century, re-written with portions of the Bible in the 9th century, Ambrosian Library.
* The Archimedes Palimpsest, a work of the great Syracusan mathematician copied onto parchment in the 10th century and overwritten by a liturgical text in the 12th century.
* The Arian fragment of the Vatican, of the 5th century
*This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. It came from the wikipedia page for Palimpsests.
**This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Palpimpsests.
| 61 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
