Reading Scrolls

Reading Scrolls

Top of Mind with Julie Rose

Mars Helicopter, Harriet Tubman, Library Fines

Episode: Mars Helicopter, Harriet Tubman, Library Fines

  • Feb 19, 2021 9:00 pm
  • 13:34 mins

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year 79 AD, it not only buried the city of Pompeii, but also a nearby seaside village. Herculaneum's library held a huge collection of papyrus scrolls. Those scrolls carbonized instantly in their rolled-up form. Roger Macfarlane–Professor of Comparative Arts and Letters at BYU and director of the Ancient Textual Imaging Group–explains how they read an ancient scroll that's been turned into a solid piece of charcoal. (Originally aired Jun 24, 2020).