Long-Lost Archimedes Text Resurfaces in French Museum

"The page in question contains geometric diagrams and a passage from Archimedes's treatise on the sphere and the cylinder, albeit hidden beneath a layer of later religious writings. The compilation of Archimedes's writings was created in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) in the mid-10th century before being smuggled to a monastery in the Judean desert following the sacking of the city by crusaders in 1204."

"A combination of religious orthodoxy and the high cost of parchment (it's made from goatskin) saw monks wash, scrub, and overwrite Archimedes's 3rd-century B.C.E. concepts with liturgical texts."

"A comparison with Heiberg's photographs, now preserved at the Royal Danish Library, made it possible to confirm without ambiguity that it was leaf number 123. Two further leaves from the manuscript remain missing."

A missing page from the Archimedes Palimpsest has been identified at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Blois by researchers from France's National Centre for Scientific Research. The page contains geometric diagrams and passages from Archimedes's treatise on the sphere and the cylinder, obscured by religious writings added later when monks reused the parchment. The original manuscript was created in Constantinople in the mid-10th century and later moved to a monastery in the Judean desert. Researchers confirmed the page's identity by comparing it with photographs taken by Danish scholar Johan Ludvig Heiberg in 1906. The reverse side features an illustration of Prophet Daniel. Two additional leaves from the manuscript remain missing, and scientists plan advanced imaging to reveal hidden content.

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