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At the start of the article it links to a previous article on the scroll from February 2025 which has some more background details: https://www.finebooksmagazi
by martinpw 1y ago
At the start of the article it links to a previous article on the scroll from February 2025 which has some more background details:
https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-news/inside-herculaneum-scroll-seen-first-time-79-ad https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-news/inside-her...
In particular this part:
Researchers are further refining the image using a new segmentation approach in the hopes that it will improve the coherence and clarity of the lines of text currently visible, and perhaps reach the end of the papyrus, the innermost part of the carbonised scroll, where the colophon with the title of the work may be preserved.
So the new article is indicating they were able now to decipher the title, and also indicates maybe why the title was not the first thing deciphered (presumably it is hardest to read the innermost parts.)
I'm curious why the title is in the inside of the scroll. That implies you have to completely open it to read the title - is that the way scrolls are usually written?
- wizzwizz4 1y agoIf you're rolling the scroll up as you read (or, I guess, write) it, you'll leave it rolled up like that. I presume you're expected to rewind the tape before you return it, if you borrowed it from somebody else.
- alnwlsn 1y agoMaybe the title was on both ends. That way, you'd still be able to tell what it was quickly even if not rewound. And the one on the outside just burned away.