A team of physicists at BESSY-II, a research institute based on the use of synchrotron radiation in Berlin, Germany, have revealed the existence of papyrus letters that until then all believed contained nothing written.
Artifacts were discovered in the early 20th century, but the ink used by scribes to create texts became completely invisible due to the action of light over the centuries – and is now readable thanks to the use of a combination of technologies.
Invisible message
According to Jennifer Ouellette of the Ars Technica website, the papyrus is part of the collection at the Egyptian Museum in Berlin and was found on Elephantine Island in Egypt during excavations by an archaeologist named Otto Rubensohn. The artifacts, as we mentioned, appeared to be completely blank and, moreover, because they are extremely old and fragile material, it is impossible for researchers to even try to open the papyri to further explore them.
This material, as you may know, is made from the stalks of the eponymous plant – papyrus or Cyperus papyrus – which are entwined perpendicular to the direction of the vegetable fiber and in overlapping layers.
The thickness of the finished sheets may vary, making it difficult to identify what has been written about them. To make matters worse, the Berlin Museum papyri were folded by whoever used them in ancient Egypt, preventing them from being mechanically opened.
Papyrus Revealed
So, according to Jennifer, to search the contents of the artifacts and try to find out if there was anything written on them, the BESSY II scientists subjected the papyrus to synchrotron radiation.
More specifically, the team placed the folded pages in a particle accelerator where radiation was generated; Consisting of a thin but extremely intense X-ray beam – that allowed images present in the papyrus to be seen again.
The world eagerly awaits the gradual realization of the peace plan between the Israeli government and Palestinian organizations. Which seems to finally leave the roll of good intentions to come true. Such a plan, called a “road map”. Aims to end decades of bloody conflict and terrorist attacks in the region, betting on a ceasefire and the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
The longed-for peace between Jews and Muslims, Israelis and Arabs goes back to the story of a man who has become a symbol of detached faith and unity among nations and who today is somewhat forgotten in the dust of fighting and discord in the Holy Land. This man is Abraham, the first of the biblical patriarchs, considered the biological, adoptive, and ethical father of all peoples. A key figure in the three great monotheistic traditions; Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – Carries the primordial idea of peace; If all nations are sisters to each other, daughters of one father, why is there still so much war?
Account Genesis, the first book of the Bible, which God called Abraham and said to him
“Leave your land, your kindred and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great people, I will bless you, I will magnify your name. Be a blessing. At that time, Abraham was still Abram, a 75-year-old man living in Haran. A major trading center of the ancient world and city of present-day Turkey. Even without prior assurances of the double promise of land and descent, Abraham believed in Yahweh, the only, invisible and omnipresent God.
He left without knowing where he was going. He had no contract in his hands to secure possession of a piece of land. And though his wife Sara was barren, he never doubted that he would have more posterity than the stars in the sky. It was his full and unrestricted faith in Yahweh that gave rise to the monotheistic religious tradition. Which preaches the existence and worship of one God, something innovative in the ancient world.
