The Archimedes Palimpsest is a Byzantine prayerbook written in 1229, but the artifact holds more than what immediately meets the eye. The original writing on its pages was erased and replaced—making it a palimpsest—a common practice during the medieval period for expensive writing materials made from animal-skin like parchment. In other words, the scribes reused parchment from other books.  As such, the palimpsest hosts a number of 10th century treatises by the Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes of Syracuse (though the original texts would have been centuries older). Notably, among the palimpsest’s earlier erased works are the only known texts of two of Archimedes’ treatises in existence, The Method and Stomachion.  Today, the Archimedes Palimpsest is housed at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland and owned by a private collector. It’s “one of the most important surviving manuscripts of antiquity,” according to the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). There’s just one problem. The manuscript was photographed in 1906, and three of the photographed leaves, or pages, are now missing from the real thing. Now, CNRS researcher Victor Gysembergh a has found one of them at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Blois, France. The rediscovered page is Palimpsest’s page 123, as confirmed by the 1906 photographs. Related Stories Medieval elite still received fancy burials despite disease stigma Forgotten, priceless medieval book found in school library Medieval volcanoes may have ignited the Black Death Rare Merlin and King Arthur text found hidden in binding of medieval book One side of the page has partially-covered geometric diagrams, as well as a passage from Book I, Propositions 39 to 41 of Archimedes’ On the Sphere and the Cylinder treatise. A significant portion of it is mostly readable. On the other side, the page features a much more recent element—a colorful representation of the biblical prophet Daniel and two lions. It’s an illumination, a form of vibrant artwork that decorated medieval handwritten texts, though this one is much more recent.  “This illustration was reportedly added around 1942 by the manuscript’s owner, who is thought to have attempted to increase its market value,” the CNRS explained. Unfortunately, standard analysis techniques are unable to read the text underneath it. “Subject to the necessary authorisations, the researcher plans to conduct the first imaging campaigns within a year, using a multispectral approach combined with a series of synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence analyses in an attempt to reveal the text concealed beneath the illumination.” The identification comes in the wake of multispectral imaging of the palimpsest conducted in the early 2000s. This project  led to the revelation of important texts by Archimedes and new bits of ancient literary and philosophical works.  “This discovery sparks renewed interest in re-examining the complete Archimedes Palimpsest using more powerful techniques than those employed in the early 2000s, with a view to undertaking a new reading of the pages that remained illegible during the initial campaign.” It remains to be seen what else lies hidden beneath David’s rather confused face. The post Long-lost page from Greek manuscript discovered in French art museum appeared first on Popular Science. ...read more read less