Re: Any new ancient manuscripts turned up recently?

Katrin <WinstonSmith_...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Are we still uncovering manuscripts from ancient Greek
or Roman times or early medieval times?

It'll be many years, for example, before the "Scrolls" found
in Herculaneum -- Google "Villa of the Papyri" -- are
understood.

And, of course, as I've said many times (in other groups
if not here), I firmly agree with the wise man who said
that some of the greatest discoveries of the future will be
made inside of museums & universities.

I'll add "Private Collections" to that.

There are plenty of forgotten treasures -- fully provenanced --
collecting dust on shelves or buried deep in basements.
Some because the identity or significance of which was not
established until after they had been forgotten, and some
have no doubt been just plain misidentified.

...I also wonder just what percentage of ancient or very
old manuscripts have been tested for prior text. As I'm
sure you're aware, every writing surface from papyri to stone
was commonly reused from ancient times to the advent of
cheap paper. So it's very likely that there's a parchment or
papyri scroll out there somewhere, hiding it's past life as
the last written recod of some long-lost treasure,

.