The Library of Congress Preservation Research and Testing Division is pleased to announce a lecture given by Verena Lepper (Curator for Egyptian and Oriental Papyri, Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Berlin) and Heinz-Eberhard Mahnke (Honorary Professor, Physics Department, Freie Universität Berlin), on “Virtual reading of papyri within the Elephantine Project” Monday, September 12, from 1:00 – 2:00 pm, Library of Congress James Madison Memorial Building, Pickford Theater (Third Floor), 101 Independence Ave SE. The lecture is part of the Library’s Topics in Preservation Series. Read More:

Virtual reading of papyri within the Elephantine Project

Ancient papyri documents from Elephantine Island in the Nile River that have remained rolled for almost 4,000 years often cannot be safely unrolled to be read. As part of the Elephantine Project, funded by the European Research Council, research using computer tomography to virtually unroll/unfold documents can make the text accessible, even though the papyrus object remains physically rolled. For texts written in metal-containing inks, absorption tomography is being pursued. For texts written in carbon-based inks, suitable alternatives are being investigated in a feasibility study.

Speakers:

Verena Lepper (Curator for Egyptian and Oriental Papyri, Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Berlin) and Heinz-Eberhard Mahnke (Honorary Professor, Physics Department, Freie Universität Berlin)