Ancient Documents See New Light At BYU

Jun 2, 2006

Ancient Documents See New Light At BYU

(KUTV) PROVO, Utah Ancient documents badly burned by fire and thought to be lost forever are getting another look because of scientists at Brigham Young University.

Researchers are using cutting-edge technology that appears to be reading thru the charred pages. They use a technology called multi-spectral imaging. In this case, they took a charred piece of papyrus more than 2000 years old and looked at it through different wavelengths that turn the black into various shades of gray. Incredibly Ancient Greek letters emerged.

A group from BYU is helping to uncover long lost writings – words seemingly lost forever to fire. The thoughts and prose placed on the papyri are still there, they just need to be seen in the right light.

“It's not quite like Raiders of the Lost Ark because they don't let me carry a whip when I go,” says Dr. Roger MacFarlane.

MacFarlane and Doctor Gene Ware are helping to decipher the oldest scroll in Europe – The Derveni Papyrus.

“It had apparently been burned up in the funeral pyre,” says MacFarlane. “Only half of the scroll survived.”

Found on top of an ancient tomb near Thessaloniki, Greece, the fire actually preserved the papyrus, which dates to around 400 B.C., near the time of Socrates. Many of the words are invisible, the black ink hard to see through the black of the scorched papyrus.

“We can reveal detail often not visible to the eye,” says Ware.

Using multi-spectral imaging, light in different color wavelengths reveals Greek letters and other details because they reflect the light differently.

“For example you can see grain of papyrus running here,” says Ware.

The technology is the same used by NASA to study the earth and other planets. The pictures are taken of smaller objects a few feet away, and the reward is more than information.

“This papyrus is a distinct draw for scholars of a certain training,” says MacFarlane.

The Derveni Papyrus is a commentary on an orphic poem.

“What to expect when you die, how to make sense of the universe – learn it now so you can this information after you die – its really quite an interesting concept all around,” says MacFarlane.

Some researchers believe the scroll may be one of the most important religious texts n the world, providing more information about the Orpheus Cult, a group that presented the notion of a single god.

The Derveni Papyrus has been in a museum for 30 years. There are scrolls in similar condition all over the world. Dr. MacFarlane says BYU has received more requests for the imaging process than they can handle.

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