Irish 'Dead Sea Scroll' Found in a Bog
This in from the Universe Catholic News. DS
July 29, 2006
By The Universe: Fragments of an ancient early Christian manuscript, possibly more than 1,000-years-old, have been uncovered in a bog in Ireland.
The discovery of the Psalter or Book of Psalms in a County Offaly bog has already been hailed by experts as one of the greatest ecclesiastical finds from a European bog. The find is said to be one of the most significant discoveries in European and World archaeology in decades and has been likened to the Irish equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Specialists from the National Museum of Ireland have said it is impossible to know how the manuscript ended up in the bog, but believe they may have been lost in transit or dumped after a raid possibly one thousand to twelve hundred years ago.
"It is not so much the fragments themselves, but what they represent, that is of such staggering importance," said Dr Pat Wallace, Museum Director.
"In my wildest hopes, I could only have dreamed of a discovery as fragile and rare as this. It testifies to the incredible richness of the Early Christian civilisation of this island and to the greatness of ancient Ireland."
According to Dr Wallace the extensive fragments appear to be of an Irish Early Christian Psalter, written on vellum. Recovered from the bog by a bulldozer the manuscripts were transported to the National Museum`s conservation laboratory the following day.
The pages appear to be those of a slim, large format book with a wraparound vellum or leather cover from which the book block has slipped. Raghnall O Floinn, Head of Collections at the museum, estimates that there are about 45 letters per line and a maximum of 40 lines per page. While part of Psalm 83 is legible, the extent to which other Psalms or additional texts are preserved will only be determined by painstaking work by a team of invited experts probably operating over a long time in the museum laboratory according to Mr O’Floinn.
July 29, 2006
By The Universe: Fragments of an ancient early Christian manuscript, possibly more than 1,000-years-old, have been uncovered in a bog in Ireland.
The discovery of the Psalter or Book of Psalms in a County Offaly bog has already been hailed by experts as one of the greatest ecclesiastical finds from a European bog. The find is said to be one of the most significant discoveries in European and World archaeology in decades and has been likened to the Irish equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Specialists from the National Museum of Ireland have said it is impossible to know how the manuscript ended up in the bog, but believe they may have been lost in transit or dumped after a raid possibly one thousand to twelve hundred years ago.
"It is not so much the fragments themselves, but what they represent, that is of such staggering importance," said Dr Pat Wallace, Museum Director.
"In my wildest hopes, I could only have dreamed of a discovery as fragile and rare as this. It testifies to the incredible richness of the Early Christian civilisation of this island and to the greatness of ancient Ireland."
According to Dr Wallace the extensive fragments appear to be of an Irish Early Christian Psalter, written on vellum. Recovered from the bog by a bulldozer the manuscripts were transported to the National Museum`s conservation laboratory the following day.
The pages appear to be those of a slim, large format book with a wraparound vellum or leather cover from which the book block has slipped. Raghnall O Floinn, Head of Collections at the museum, estimates that there are about 45 letters per line and a maximum of 40 lines per page. While part of Psalm 83 is legible, the extent to which other Psalms or additional texts are preserved will only be determined by painstaking work by a team of invited experts probably operating over a long time in the museum laboratory according to Mr O’Floinn.
posted by Darren Simpson @ 11:50 PM
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