"The Irish 'Dead Sea Scrolls'"

[dianeduane]

Don't know if I'd call them that, but unquestionably the find is important.

Fragments of an ancient manuscript, possibly more than 1,000 years old, have been uncovered in a bog.

The discovery of the Psalter or Book of Psalms in the south Midlands has already been hailed by experts as the greatest find 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 referred to as the Irish equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Specialists have said it is impossible to know how the manuscript ended up in the bog, but believe it may have been lost in transit or dumped after a raid possibly 1,000-1,200 years ago — while estimates date the book to 800AD.

Wow.

Comments

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

Indeed.

More on the story here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5216320.stm) as well

[artela.livejournal.com]

Could they not be described more acurately as "The Irish Bog Rolls"?

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

*slap*

[artela.livejournal.com]

sorry.. couldn't help myself...

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

I liked it (even if it made me hold my nose & weep!)!

[madfilkentist]

Sorry, I can see that this is a very impressive find for archeologists, but I don't see why it's historically significant. Christianity had already been around in Ireland for quite a while in 800.

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

Possibly because if any of it's readable it might show interesting variations from the text we know as standard. Just a thought from a non-history buff (or a history non-buff, or something).

Now I just have to deal with the fact that I read the line as saying these fragments had been uncovered in a blog...

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

Ha!
Glad I wasn't the only one who misread it the first time around!

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

Make that 3 of us ;)

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

I adore these kinds of finds. I can't wait to see what comes out of it. It only makes me sad that they'll find them, and then we have to wait 2-3 years for the scientists to evaluate. I wish they could scan and put on the net so we could SEE these things more.