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An unreadable cud of ancient papyrus remained tucked away in a Swiss university ’s collection for nearly 400 twelvemonth . Conservators have now peeled the pages aside , deciphering the 2,000 - yr - old text for the first time .
The message ? A previously unknown text edition describe a bizarre theory on hysteria by the Greco - Romanic physician Galen ( A.D. 130 – 210 ) , whose approximation about anatomy andmedicinedominated Western science until the Middle Ages .
The ancient papyrus, shown here after it was cleaned and smoothed, holds medical text possibly written by the Roman physician Galen.
" We can now say that it ’s a medical school text from late antiquity that name the phenomenon of ' hysteric apnea , ' " Sabine Huebner , a prof of ancient history at the University of Basel , explain in anannouncementof the uncovering . " We therefore assume that it is either a text from the Roman physician Galen , or an unknown comment on his work . " [ 10 of the Most Mysterious Ancient Manuscripts ]
The textual matter is thought to have been part of the collection of Basilius Amerbach , a prof of jurisprudence at the University of Basel in the sixteenth one C . Amerbach was illustrious for having compiled thousands of artworks and ethnical objects to sate his " locker of curiosities"—ancient coins , woodcuts , illustrated books , manuscript and even a miniaturecarving of a unicornin " unicorn " ivory ( really , a walrus tusk ) . His collecting was at long last buy by the metropolis and the University of Basel in 1661 , and became the gist of the Kunstmuseum Basel . Amerbach ’s raiment of objects went on public exhibit beginning in 1671 , sometimes earning it the eminence of the world ’s oldest municipal art collection .
This particular papyrus had evade translation for centuries . It had writing on both sides that appeared rearwards , as if written in a mirror .
A late investigation by the Basel Digital Humanities Lab used UV and infrared light to look at the ms , showing that it was several level of papyrus stuck together , perhaps to be reused as bookbinding . After apapyrus restorer tell the single bed sheet , the Greek writing could finally be study .
" The absolute majority of paper rush are documents such as letter , contract and receipts , " Huebner state . " This is a literary schoolbook , however , and they are vastly more worthful . "
There are already bang text edition in which Galen describeshysteria , an affliction that is no longer recognized by doctors but had been diagnosed , preponderantly in women , in the past tense . Galen was n’t convinced by another hypothesis of the earned run average , that hysteria was due to a " wandering womb . " Instead , he thought women became hysterical , and could brook from " hysterical asphyxiation , " or apnea , when they give up get intercourse . The condition could make them " apnoic , suffocated or spasmodic , " according to one translation of Galen ’s text " On the Affected Parts . "
It ’s hardly the first time scholar have prove to go back a Galen text from a recycled holograph . Earlier this twelvemonth , particle physicists at a U.S. Department of Energy research lab were attempt to use high - energyX - rays to reveal the repose of a Galen texthidden on a holograph that had been repurposed as rule book of Christian hymn .
Original article onLive skill .
