Illuminated Manuscript Test Artifact - Spectral and Reflectance Technologies
Date
Credits
- Todd Hanneken Researcher
Format
- Photograph 155
Type of Work
- Finished work 5481
Locations Made
Links
The Dead Sea Scrolls, which were more than 1,000 years older than any previously known copy of the Bible, were discovered in the 1940s containing fragments of a Hebrew version of Jubilees from the 150s B.C. This signaled that Jubilees was considered scripture to the Scrolls’ contemporaries, and it gave scholars an early copy with which to compare the Latin palimpsest. To piece together how Jubilees went from being considered scripture in B.C. 150 to being nearly forgotten in the eighth century, scholars first must be able to read the text. This illuminated manuscript is actually a test artifact testing new emerging spectral and reflectance technologies that will allow scholars to see past the parchment prepared from animal hide, holes and blemishes, or corrosion where lost ink has eaten into the parchment, and allow them to be able to interact with a holistic, digital version of the artifact.
