This is just awesome!

Eureka! Extraordinary discovery unlocks secrets of the ancients
By David Keys and Nicholas Pyke
17 April 2005

Thousands of previously illegible manuscripts containing work by some of the greats of classical literature are being read for the first time using technology which experts believe will unlock the secrets of the ancient world.

Among treasures already discovered by a team from Oxford University are previously unseen writings by classical giants including Sophocles, Euripides and Hesiod. Invisible under ordinary light, the faded ink comes clearly into view when placed under infra-red light, using techniques developed from satellite imaging.

The Oxford documents form part of the great papyrus hoard salvaged from an ancient rubbish dump in the Graeco-Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchus more than a century ago. The thousands of remaining documents, which will be analysed over the next decade, are expected to include works by Ovid and Aeschylus, plus a series of Christian gospels which have been lost for up to 2,000 years.

What a find this would be. Wow!

Source: The Independent

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  • http://www.chapel-perilous.net bsti

    so you think there might be a Bible 2??

  • http://www.insignificantthoughts.com Vinny

    Hard to say, but a find of lost gospels that are thousands of years since being seen or heard is intriguing… This could mean a lot for many faiths around the world.

  • http://www.voodootime.com justis

    I doubt this will have serious implications for most Christians. After all, there are already many known apocryphal texts (most famously, the Gospel of Thomas) which are not included in the standard Christian Bible. What gave some texts creedence over others is a matter of contention.

    If anything interesting comes to light in these texts (perhaps, the missing text of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene?), it will be interesting to hear the fundamentalist take on it. Something tells me there won’t be throngs of Christians demanding changes to the Bible as it exists today.

  • http://www.insignificantthoughts.com Vinny

    I don’t think it’ll create a big ripple, exactly, but it may explain some things that have gone somewhat unexplained over time or clarify certain things in the bible.

    Either way, this is, at the very least, an absolutely incredible archeological find.

  • http://www.chapel-perilous.net/ bsti

    so you think there might be a Bible 2??

  • http://www.insignificantthoughts.com/ Vinny

    Hard to say, but a find of lost gospels that are thousands of years since being seen or heard is intriguing… This could mean a lot for many faiths around the world.

  • http://www.voodootime.com/ justis

    I doubt this will have serious implications for most Christians. After all, there are already many known apocryphal texts (most famously, the Gospel of Thomas) which are not included in the standard Christian Bible. What gave some texts creedence over others is a matter of contention.

    If anything interesting comes to light in these texts (perhaps, the missing text of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene?), it will be interesting to hear the fundamentalist take on it. Something tells me there won’t be throngs of Christians demanding changes to the Bible as it exists today.

  • http://www.insignificantthoughts.com/ Vinny

    I don’t think it’ll create a big ripple, exactly, but it may explain some things that have gone somewhat unexplained over time or clarify certain things in the bible.

    Either way, this is, at the very least, an absolutely incredible archeological find.