#Ancient manuscripts

[bernievm]

If you are still heart broken about the destruction of the Alexandria library, you will be happy to hear in a far away world, there’s a vast library hidden from the world for centuries, contains 84,000 books, which are planned to be digitised, translated and share with the world.

The Sakya Monastery in Tibet, founded in 1073 by Khon Konchog Gyalpo, is renowned for its vast library of ancient manuscripts, many of which remain untouched for centuries.

Most of these texts are Buddhist scriptures, meticulously handwritten in various languages like Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Sanskrit. But the depth of this collection is vast. It isn’t limited to religious teachings; it expands into the realms of literature, history, philosophy, the stars above with astronomy, the logic of mathematics, the beauty of art, and even the practical wisdom of agriculture.

The scale of this library is staggering. Picture traditional bookshelves stretching 200 feet and soaring to 33 feet, all packed with a whopping 84,000 books! Among these, there’s a standout: a single scripture that tips the scales at a massive 1,100 pounds, claiming the title of the heaviest in the world. Thanks to the region’s dry climate, the library also boasts a collection of delicate palm-leaf manuscripts, preserved in near-perfect condition.

The library is not open to the general public but is accessible to members and visiting scholars with permission. Efforts are underway to digitize these manuscripts, making them more widely available for research and study. This initiative highlights the library's role as a bridge between ancient wisdom and modern scholarship, offering invaluable insights into Tibetan culture and knowledge.

Now, these precious papers give us a peek into Tibet’s history. They show us how people lived, what they believed, and how they dreamed. Thanks to the Sakya Monastery, a whole world has been brought back to life from long ago. Everyone can learn and be amazed by the wonders of the past.

[Sources]:

*Earthly Mission: Tibet's Great Sakya Library (https://earthlymission.com/tibet-great-sakya-library-84000-scrolls-heaviest-scripture-world/)

*History Enhanced: Unveiling the Unseen (https://historyenhanced.com/unveiling-the-unseen-84000-unread-manuscripts-from-sakya-librarys-timeless-tales-discovered/)

*The Historians: The Secrets of Sakya Monastery Library (https://thehistorians.org/2023/12/24/the_secrets_of_sakya_monastery_library_in_tibet/)

[infinitysisters]

“The New Testament in the original Greek is not a work of literary art : it is not written in a solemn, ecclesiastical language, it is written in the sort of Greek which was spoken over the Eastern Mediterranean after Greek had become an international language and therefore lost its real beauty and subtlety.

In it we see Greek used by people who have no real feeling for Greek words because Greek words are not the words they spoke when they were children. It is a sort of “basic” Greek; a language without roots in the soil, a utilitarian, commercial and administrative language. Does this shock us? It ought not to, except as the Incarnation itself ought to shock us.

The same divine humility which decreed that God should become a baby at a peasant-woman’s breast, and later an arrested field-preacher in the hands of the Roman police, decreed also that He should be preached in a vulgar, prosaic and unliterary language. If you can stomach the one, you can stomach the other.

The Incarnation is in that sense an irreverent doctrine: Christianity, in that sense, an incurably irreverent religion. When we expect that it should have come before the World in all the beauty that we now feel in the Authorised Version we are as wide of the mark as the Jews were in expecting that the Messiah would come as a great earthly King.

The real sanctity, the real beauty and sublimity of the New Testament (as of Christ’s life) are of a different sort: miles deeper or further in.”

—

CS Lewis, intro to JB Phillip’s translation of the New Testament letters, 𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴, 1947

[creativity-island]

The Getty Villa

[quantum-chaos-theory]

thank you so much for sharing the burrito rant! I had only ever heard of this ancient tome in the dusty manuscripts of the you tube, but here it sits before me, thank the holy grail sitting on a marble pedestal.

Have you ever been to earth?

On earth, we use the word “burrito” to describe a tortilla filled with things you eat. Pretty simple stuff, and I’m surprised you at least got that part right. My burrito was, in fact, filled with food. In this, you and I agree and are friends. But this is also where my lifelong hatred begins for you and anyone else whose brain has been repeatedly scrubbed with the same mixture of bleach and Pop Rocks as yours has. Because that should have killed you, but left you around long enough to do what you did to me today. Let me explain:

You’re an idiot.

Let me further explain:

Burritos are eaten from one end to the other. So that means when you assemble a burrito with motherfucking ZONES of ingredients going that direction, you create a disgusting experience for the burrito’s end user. When you make a burrito, you should put the ingredients in layerslengthwise. That way, every bite has AT LEAST A FUCKING CHANCE of getting at least two types of ingredients, and there is little chance of becoming almost hopelessly trapped in a goddamned cilantro cavern.

Have you ever eaten one of the things you make all fucking day? You should try one. They are pretty good WHEN YOU ARE NOT WILLING YOURSELF THROUGH THE FUCKING EMPIRE OF SOUR CREAM ONLY TO END UP IN LETTUCE COUNTRY.

When you eat a burrito, you don’t stand it up and bite down on it lengthwise like a fucking Rancor. Humans can’t usually dislocate their jaws, and I’m not a fucking pelican. But you must think that’s how it’s done, since that would be THE ONLY FUCKING WAY to take a bite of your crapstrosity and have it taste like a burrito.

And guess what else, player? You probably can’t guess anything, because I’m pretty sure you’re just a mop with a hat on it that fell over and spilled some shit into a tortilla, but just in case, here’s what:

Humans also don’t eat burritos like fucking corn on the cob. Like a fucking typewriter from one end to the other a little at a time and then DING next line. But today I wish I had tried that. Because at least THEN I would be able to eat some rice, then beans, then be all like HEY BEANS I’LL BE RIGHT BACK JUST GOING OVER HERE TO THE GUACAMOLE FOR A SECOND.

Nope.

My experience was more like HEY BEANS IT’S JUST GOING TO BE YOU AND I FOR A MINUTE UNTIL I CAN FUCKING EXCAVATE THE RICE FROM BENEATH YOU BUT BY THEN YOU WILL BE A FADING MEMORY OH HEY I WAS WRONG I’M IN THE FUCKING CHEESEOSPHERE NOW RICE MUST BE NEXT I HOPE IT’S NOT ANOTHER FUCKING SALSA POCKET.

You built this thing like a fucking pack of LifeSavers.

And don’t even fucking think I’m about to open this shit up and re-engineer your nonsense 90 degrees. I ALREADY PUT A HOLE IN IT WITH MY FUCKING MOUTH. YEAH. THAT’S HOW I DISCOVERED YOU FUCKING SUCK AT LOOKING AT THINGS. I AM NOT GOING TO DO FUCKING TORTILLA ORIGAMI TO GET THIS SHIT BACK TOGETHER, ONLY TO END UP WITH A BURRITO THAT’S BEEN SHOT IN THE GUT AND IS BLEEDING YOUR INEPTITUDE.

What’s that? I should ask you to mix it up first next time? IS THIS JAMBA JUICE? I DON’T WANT TO DRINK MY FUCKING BURRITO THROUGH A BENDY STRAW, AND I DON’T WANT A PILE OF BURRITO SOUP IN A FLOUR CAN.

I just want a burrito.

In conclusion:

You’re the worst thing that has ever happened to the universe, you owe everyone everywhere an apology for this burritobomination, and I hope your babies look like monkeys.

UPDATE FOR EVERYONE WHO SAID “JUST EAT IT WITH A FORK”:

A fucking fork?

I DIDN’T ORDER THE FUCKING COBBURRITO SALAD.

If anyone ever handed me a burrito with a fork, THEY WOULD BE WEARING A BRAND NEW BURRITO HAT FROM MY FALL COLLECTION TEN SECONDS LATER.

That’s like buying a car and having them hand you a fucking wrench with the keys. Like YEAH WE KNOW THIS MOTHERFUCKER’S GOING TO EXPLODE AND BE SPREAD ACROSS EIGHT LANES AS SOON AS YOU HIT THE GAS, BUT SHIT, WE GAVE YOU A WRENCH, SO BE COOL.

Jesus already gave me two burrito forks. One at the end of each arm. They’re called fucking HANDS.

A fork. My god. I haven’t cried since I was six, but I’m fucking sobbing now.

People eat burritos with forks?

God is sorry he made us.

(Source)

[marida]

The Empress Theodora's Codex (9th century)

This is one of the only two surviving minuscule manuscripts written on purple parchment paper with gold ink. It contains various Gospels from the New Testament and it dates over 12 centuries ago.

[a-kind-of-merry-war]

look at this frog he's having such a nice day

[curioscurio]

my favorite part of the Voynich Manuscript is this little nymph bathing in a pitcher plant and making a rainbow with the water spray

[khantoelessar]

This is amazing!

I'd like to introduce you to LJS 57, a compendium of Astronomical text in Hebrew, written in Spain around 1391. It's an interesting combination of astronomy and astrology, and illustrates how the division between "science" and "not science" was not nearly so clear in the past as it is today. It has some fantastic illustrations of constellations!

🔗:

[jeannepompadour]

Vergil's Aeneid from the Vergilius Vaticanus illuminated manuscript kept in the collection of the Biblioteca apostolica Vaticana. MS lat. 3225. fol. 33 v; by the Master of the Vergilius Vaticanus; 5th century AD

[illustratus]

Titus Manlius Torquatus decides the fate of Rome in single combat against a Gallic warrior.

[ownencyclopedia]

☀ Voynich Manuscript

the most mysterious manuscript in history is the Voynich Manuscript . This book , written about 600 years ago by an unknown author in an unknown language , has not yet been deciphered

[gwydpolls]

Time Travel Question 53: Medievalish and Earlier

These Questions are the result of suggestions a the previous iteration. This category may include suggestions made too late to fall into the correct earlier time grouping. In some cases a culture lasted a really long time and I grouped them by whether it was likely the later or earlier grouping made the most sense with the information I had.

Please add new suggestions below if you have them for future consideration. All cultures and time periods welcome.

[hypokeimena]

if ppl are following me for classics posting no you didn't

[itsybitsy-arthistory]

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

[sebshine-little-sunshine]

I always assumed that there was no dedication on the helmet that Este offered to Mick but I was wrong there is something written on the visor and it says : Pour mon frérot Mick : ) ! (For my little bro Mick)