Archaeologists have just begun to reveal the hidden secrets in these ancient manuscripts.

Last summer, Giulia Rossetto, an expert in ancient literature at the University of Vienna, turned on her laptop on the train at her home in Pordenone, northern Italy, and opened a series of manuscript photos entitled "* * * New Discovery 66".

Not an ordinary manuscript. In ancient times, it was common practice that parchment could only be scraped off the ink on old manuscripts with chemicals or pumice, and then reused. The resulting double text is called palindrome. The manuscript that rossetto is studying contains several pages of Christian text, which is a collection of saints' lives written in 10 * * language, and there is an older text hidden below, which is written in the most vague Greek. I know nothing about what is contained in the manuscript. Rossetto is a doctoral student. When an elderly scholar complained that reading these photos was beyond the scope of his eyesight decline, rossetto was considered as an afterthought.

But these are not ordinary photos. They use a state-of-the-art technology, called multispectral imaging, or MSI, in which each page of text is photographed many times and irradiated with light of different colors and wavelengths, and then computer algorithms are used to analyze it to find the binarization that clearly distinguishes the two layers of text. When rossetto's train sped by in the Austrian Alps, she flipped back and forth between the two images, adjusted the contrast, brightness and tone to minimize the occurrence of overtones in * * *, and picked out tiny Greek letters, each about 3 mm high.

The style of the manuscript indicates that it may have been written in Egypt in the fifth or sixth century, and rossetto expected another Christian text. Instead, she began to see mythical names: Persephone, Zeus and Dionysus. The lost script is ancient Greek.

There is no internet connection on the train. But as soon as she got home, rossetto rushed to her computer and checked her transcript against the known classical texts. She recalled: "I tried different combinations, but there was nothing." I thought,' Wow, this is something new.' "

In his poem Endymion, john keats wrote: "A beautiful thing is always a kind of happiness, according to a shepherd who is deeply loved by selena, the goddess of the moon, and praises the persistence of outstanding works of art." . "Lovely day by day; Never become nothingness. " Undoubtedly, it is as exciting as any material wealth to explore the lost poems from the ancient civilization that we have absorbed so many literary traditions.

This commitment transcends aesthetics. When the classical Greek literature in the European Renaissance was rediscovered, it reshaped western civilization and sowed the seeds that influenced our life today: Thomas Jefferson's pursuit of happiness was inspired by Greek philosophers; Feminists are inspired by the heroine media in euripides. Just like finding an old photo of a long-dead relative, finding a lost text can help us see the person in front of us clearly.

Rossetto's manuscript is just one of hundreds recently published by researchers involved in deciphering a unique treasure house project. In desert of sinai, a monastery named Saint Catherine Abbey is the oldest continuously operating library in the world, which has been used by monks since the 4th century. In addition to printing books, the library also collects more than 3,000 manuscripts, which have been well preserved in a dry and stable climate after centuries of accumulation. Monks in St. Catherine's church especially like to write religious scriptures with old parchment. Today, the library has at least 160 books, which may be the largest collection in the world. But the work of ancient scribes was frustrating. In most cases, the following words are obscure. Until now, people have lost their minds.

********

St Catherine's Church is a community composed of about 25 Greek Orthodox monks at the foot of Mount Sinai, which transcends the ancient tradition and continues to this day. The first mention of its written collection came from a 4th century pilgrim named Egri Ya, who described how monks read the Bible to her when she visited a small church built to commemorate Moses' burning bush. In the sixth century, the Byzantine emperor Justinian protected the chapel with a huge granite wall. 1500 years later, they are intact.

When you approach it, the sand monk at the foot of the mountain looks humble and eternal, just like something in the desert. Inside are stone steps, arches and alleys, and a square bell tower leads people's attention to the jagged peaks above. Despite the ups and downs of the surrounding civilization, life here has hardly changed. The first service of monks every day still starts at 4 am, in the center of St. Catherine's Church.

Now, as in Egri's time, it is a library, and the person in charge is a priest. Justin Sinnet, who has a long gray beard, wears a traditional black robe. Justin's father was born in Texas and received Protestant education since childhood. He discovered the Greek Orthodox Church while studying Byzantine history at the University of Texas in Austin. After converting to religion, he lived in a monastery in Massachusetts for more than 20 years. As the director of publications in the monastery, he skillfully used computer and desktop publishing technology there. 1996, Father Justin moved to St. Catherine Abbey. When the abbot decided to digitize the manuscript collection of the library for scholars all over the world, Father Justin was asked to lead the work.

This autumn, when I contacted Father Justin in Egypt by telephone, he was thoughtful and articulate, giving the impression that, like the monastery itself, he existed on a plane beyond secular restrictions. When asked to describe the actual size of the library, he seemed confused at first. "I don't think so," he said. In our conversation, he often answers my questions with stories from hundreds of years ago. Because only the librarian can enter the vault of the library, these manuscripts are always given to him one by one. Their black edges and a few drops of candle wax have witnessed centuries of wear and use. He said, "I really want to go in and see something else, but I can't." . About ten years ago, "they made me a librarian."

Finally, we can explore a complete book collection, including copies. The problem is that there seems little hope of seeing them. But in 2008, American researchers announced the completion of a ten-year project, which will use multi-spectral imaging technology to read the lost works of the Greek mathematician Archimedes hidden in the Byzantine prayer book worship ceremony in the13rd century. Father Justin has met the members of this group and asked them if they would like to go to St. Catherine.

This cooperative project, Sinai Replica Project, is directed by michael phelps of California Early Manuscripts Electronic Library, a non-profit research institution, and cooperates with universities and other institutions such as UCLA to digitize historical materials and make them easy to learn. Since 20 1 1, Phelps and other members of the project have visited the monastery 15 times in five years, and each time they have to drive for several hours in desert of sinai (the place where the Egyptian security forces and militants continue to clash). Many of them were 1 100 manuscripts found in a tower on the north wall of the temple in 2005, including10/00 damaged leaves left by the relocation of the library in the 8th century, which were hidden for protection after the earthquake. They are dry, break into pieces and are often eaten by mice.

Pan-language is the worship language of Syria 1 1 century. (Provided by Saint Catherine Monastery in Sinai, Egypt) The following text is a manual of Greek doctor Galen, a pharmacopoeia translated into Syrian in the 9th century. (provided by St. Catherine Monastery in Sinai, Egypt) shelf mark:* * * * Wenxin Discovery 8. Hypertext-a copy of ancient Greek medical literature in the 5th or 6th century. This book describes the surgical process of removing polyps from the nose. (provided by St. Catherine Monastery in Sinai, Egypt) shelf mark:* * * * Wenxin Discovery 8. Basic edition-ancient Greek medical literature in the 5th or 6th century. This book describes the surgical process of removing polyps from the nose. (provided by St. Catherine Monastery in Sinai, Egypt) shelf mark:* * * * Wenxin Discovery 8. Hypertext-the second unknown ancient Greek medical text, a copy of the ancient Greek medical glossary in the 5th or 6th century. (provided by St. Catherine Monastery in Sinai, Egypt) shelf mark:* * * * Wenxin Discovery 8. The second unknown ancient Greek medical text in the 5th or 6th century, glossary of ancient Greek medical terms. (provided by St. Catherine Monastery in Sinai, Egypt) Shelfmark: * * New Discovery 8. Pan-text-the oldest existing translation of the Christian gospel (the end of the 8th century or the 9th century). (Provided by St. Catherine Monastery in Sinai, Egypt) A Greek medical illustration was found under the oldest translation of the Gospels. (Provided by St. Catherine Monastery in Sinai, Egypt) Father Justin took out each relic in turn and photographed it by Damianos Anoos Sotakis, the chief cameraman of the project, who used a 50-megapixel camera customized by California. It takes about 7 minutes to shoot each page, the shutter keeps clicking, and the page is illuminated by infrared light, visible light and ultraviolet light, which pass through the spectrum. Researchers use different filters to illuminate from strange angles, and they can think of anything that might help to pick out details from the surface of the page. Then, a group of American imaging experts "superimposed" the images of each page into a "digital cube" and designed some algorithms, some of which are based on satellite imaging technology, which can most clearly identify and enhance the letters below hypertext.

"You just throw everything you can think of on it," Sotakis said, "and pray that everything goes well."

********

Maybe someone is listening. At the end of last month, the monastery and the electronic library of early manuscripts announced at a conference in Athens that they had extracted 6,800 pages of images from 74 copies in the past five years, and UCLA would access these images online sometime in 438+08 in 2065. So far, their work has revealed more than 284 deleted texts in 10 language, including classical, Christian and Jewish texts from the 5th century to 12 century. These collections have been reduced to the greatest manuscript discoveries of the 20th century, including the Egyptian Nag hammadi manuscript and the Dead Sea scrolls.

As part of the Sinai Peninsula replication project, more than twenty scholars from Europe, the United States and the Middle East are studying these texts carefully. One of the most exciting discoveries is the copy of at least ten old books. The manuscript itself is an important text: the earliest version of the Christian gospel known in * * * can be traced back to the eighth and ninth centuries. But Phelps predicted that the things behind it would make it a "celebrity manuscript"-some previously unknown medical documents dating back to the fifth and sixth centuries, including drug prescriptions, surgical instructions (including how to remove tumors), and other literature and medicine that might provide basic clues in ancient times.

Another fragment of this article contains a beautiful two-page illustration, which shows that a flowering plant comes from an "herb" or a guide to medicinal plants. Nigel Wilson, a classical scholar at Oxford University, is studying this article. He thinks it may be Kratos' masterpiece. In the first century BC, as a doctor, Mithradati, king of Anatolia, was fascinated by poison. 600 years after his death, a copy of this painting still exists, but up to now, all we know is that his works quoted the words of the first century doctor Dior Scooby-Doos. Wilson said, "This is the first fragment we got from the actual manuscript of his works, which is the same copy of Agamenon Licas, director of the Athens Center for History and Paleogeography.

The earliest version of the classic text known by Hippocrates, the father of western medicine, was discovered, four centuries earlier than any previously known copy. Other fragments include some unexpected fragments, such as a version of the ancient Greek adventure story apollonius of Tyre, which is the oldest known Latin translation and the earliest illustrated version 500 years ago.

Julia rossetto found her famous manuscript on the train back to Italy and is still trying to piece together the meaning of her discovery. So far, she has deciphered 89 lines (many of which are complete) and learned that they belong to a previously unknown Greek hexadecimal poem, which has the same format as Homer's epic. They told a myth that the sons of Dionysus, Zeus and Persephone sat on the throne, and a group of ferocious Titans tried to win his trust. Rossetto also found the number 23 in the text, which she thought was a book number. She said it suggested that these poems might come from rhapsody. The ancients believed that these poems were written by the mythical poet orpheus and were included in 24 books, just like Homer's poems. Rhapsody was widely studied at least in the sixth century, but today it is only known by quoting later philosophers sporadically. Claudia Rapp, a professor of Byzantine studies at the University of Vienna and rossetto's mentor, said that this discovery may happen once in a generation. "Everyone's dream of using the latest materials is to find previously unknown classic texts from pagan antiquities."

********

The secret of every manuscript will keep scholars busy for years. However, in addition to many texts, this project has a greater revelation: the amazing history of St. Catherine's Church itself.

Rapp is also the academic director of the Sinai project, and he is particularly interested in knowing that these palindromes reveal the process of parchment being reused. She said there was no obvious relationship between the two languages. In fact, scattered pages of old manuscripts in many different languages are often merged into a new book. This is not that individual scribes choose to scrape manuscripts for their own use, but that they suggest organized production, even commercial circulation, and the recycling of parchment.

St Catherine's wall in the sixth century is 65 feet high, protecting the ruins, including the church in the fourth century. (Getty Images) and found the language completely unexpected. Some of these texts even help to rebuild the lost languages, including Caucasian Albanian used in ancient Azerbaijan today and Christian-Palestinian Aramaic used by Palestinian Christians before13rd century.

The researchers also found some Greek texts translated into Syrian, which was first used by Syrian Christians before they became the main literary language in the whole Middle East. We already know that in the 8th and 9th centuries, the then * * * caliph of Baghdad sponsored a huge project to translate Greek classical knowledge into * * * through Syrian (this project helped to preserve a great deal of western classical knowledge in the dark ages). These Syrian figures show that Christian scholars at St Catherine's Church are part of this effort. "We can see this huge change," Phelps said. "In the process of related movements,

"Every surprise will add a piece to the puzzle. The discovery of two unknown Christian scriptures in ancient Greece shows that Ethiopian monks may practice in monasteries, and they were thought to have little connection with Sinai Peninsula in ancient times. One of them was written by Michelle, a former curator of the British Library in London. Michelle Brown's copy of Sinai sandwich attracts people's attention because it implies the relationship between four different texts. Its oldest floor is written in Greek, in St. Catherine's Church. The next layer is the original Latin script used in Italy in the early 7th century, followed by the Latin script in the 8th century, which was initiated by Irish monks and was popular in the British Isles. The top floor says1St. Catherine at the beginning of the 0 th century.

This is a real breakthrough-Brown said it is "conclusive evidence". Scholars believe that there was almost no contact between the Middle East and the West in the Middle Ages before the Crusade, but Brown can see from the remnants of St. Catherine and other fragments that this view is wrong. The layering of these scripts revealed by the new image supports her intuition. It is extremely impossible to go from Sinai Peninsula to Rome, then to Britain, and then to Britain. Instead, she said, monks from these different western communities must have worked in St. Catherine's Church for centuries.

Put all these together, our view of this humble outpost has also changed. We may think that desert of sinai is just a distant wilderness, where Jews have been wandering for decades after fleeing Egyptian slavery. However, these different discoveries provide amazing proof for St. Catherine as a dynamic international center and an important role in the cultural history of the East and the West. In the cultural history of the East and the West, people from different languages and communities meet here to exchange practices and knowledge traditions. "This is a place where people try to travel," Rapp said. "They come from all over the world."

*****

For Father Justin, this project represents an extraordinary opportunity to expand his so-called "living tradition" in St. Catherine's Church, where each manuscript is not only a sacred object, but also a tangible witness of tourists from the distant past. For centuries, the temple walls have protected these manuscripts, but the political situation outside is still turbulent; Last spring, militants allied with China killed a policeman a few hundred yards away from the temple gate. Although Father Justin insists that this danger is not representative, he hopes that this imaging project will help protect the manuscript treasure for centuries. He said, "This is our duty and challenge today."

Now you can subscribe to Smithsonian magazine for only 12 dollars. This article is selected from the Smithsonian magazine1/February issue.