Bethany Biron/Insider
The Greek philosopher Plato—Socrates’ student and Aristotle’s teacher—died nearly 2,400 years ago, having produced a voluminous amount of writing on political philosophy, aesthetics, ethics, and more (he came up with Atlantis!). This week, researchers announced that they found the burial place of the famous…
The first word found and translated from an unopened carbonized scroll from the Roman town of Herculaneum was announced this week, as part of the $1,000,000 Vesuvius Challe
- Parchment is one of the most durable writing materials in the world.
- The ancient material was invented more than 2,000 years ago but almost went extinct after the Middle Ages.
- At 92, İsmail Araç is one of the last artisans in the world
In 79 A.D., Mount Vesuvius lay waste to a library in Herculaneum that was owned by the father-in-law of Julius Caesar. Now, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and some scientists are giving $250,000 away in prizes to the person or team who successfully uses modern technology to decipher scrolls recovered from the site of…