New developments in ancient fields

Using modern-age technology, scientists and classicists are working together to read, for the first time, ancient texts that were thought lost to the ages.

The original papyrus documents, discovered in an ancient rubbish dump in central Egypt, are often meaningless to the naked eye - decayed, worm-eaten and blackened by the passage of time. But scientists using the new photographic technique, developed from satellite imaging, are bringing the original writing back into view. Academics have hailed it as a development which could lead to a 20 per cent increase in the number of great Greek and Roman works in existence. Some are even predicting a "second Renaissance".

It's not often that there are more than fragmentary discoveries in the field of classical literature; these new works have the potential to totally change our current understanding of these ancient authors and cultures. How unbelievably exciting!

(via Rebecca's Pocket)