Palimpsests

In the ancient world, writing material was expensive and often hard to find. Therefore, ancient scribes sometimes scraped older parchment manuscripts in order to add new texts. Such manuscripts are called "palimpsests", from the Greek παλίμψηστος (scraped again). The underwriting of palimpsest manuscripts is usually hard to decipher with the naked eye and often requires special photographic techniques to be read.

Mich. Ms. 118
Bilingual Greek-Sahidic hymns. Parchment. Recto. White Monastery, Sohag (Egypt). Fragments of the same manuscript are kept in Oxford. ca. 10th-11th century. Parchment; 15.5 x 12 cm.

Mich. Ms. 118
Bilingual Greek-Sahidic hymns. Parchment. Verso. White Monastery, Sohag (Egypt). Fragments of the same manuscript are kept in Oxford. ca. 10th-11th century. Parchment; 15.5 x 12 cm.

Mich. Ms. 158.37
Jacob of Serugh (ca. 451-521). On the Ascension. Parchment. Recto. White Monastery, Sohag (Egypt). Fragments of the same manuscript are kept in Oxford, Cairo, and Paris. ca. 10th century. Parchment; 19.8 x 20 cm.

On the Ascension. Parchment. Verso. White Monastery, Sohag (Egypt). Fragments of the same manuscript are kept in Oxford, Cairo, and Paris. ca. 10th century. Parchment; 19.8 x 20 cm.

Mich. Ms. 112
Gospel of John. Parchment. Recto. White Monastery, Sohag (Egypt). Fragments of the same manuscript are kept in London and Paris. ca. 10th century. Parchment; 18 x 19.5 cm.

Mich. Ms. 112
Gospel of John. Parchment. Verso. White Monastery, Sohag (Egypt). Fragments of the same manuscript are kept in London and Paris. ca. 10th century. Parchment; 18 x 19.5 cm.

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