#OTD in 1872.
Assyriologist George Smith presents the first translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh to a meeting of the Society of Biblical Archaeology in London. In 1875 and 1876 he published fuller translations, the latter of which was published as The Chaldaean Account of Genesis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Gilgamesh
The Chaldean account of Genesis at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60559
Ancient Indian texts reveal the liberating power of metaphysics
Indian metaphysics presented a philosophical route to a higher level of existence beyond limits of space and time
by Jessica Frazier
Books on this subject at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=metaphysics&submit_search=Search
A surprising number of medieval scribes were women
New research estimates around 8,000 of those manuscripts could still exist today.
By Andrew Paul
#OTD in 1859.
German scholar Constantin von Tischendorf identifies portions of the mid-4th century Codex Sinaiticus (an uncial manuscript of the Greek Bible) at Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai in the Khedivate of Egypt and arranges for its presentation to his patron, Tsar Alexander II of Russia at Saint Petersburg.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Sinaiticus
Tischendorf.IV.Monumenta Sacra Inedita. 1857-1870 at TIA:
https://archive.org/details/Tischendorf.iv.monumentaSacraInedita.newcollection.subscript.6vols.1857-1870/01.MonumentaSacraInedita.NCVA.FragEvangLucLibGen.v1.Tischendorf.Subsc.1857./mode/1up
The Undecipherable Voynich Manuscript Can Be Viewed Online in Its Entirety
By Eva Baron
https://mymodernmet.com/voynich-manuscript-undecipherable/?
More information here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript
Voynich Manuscript at @internetarchive https://archive.org/details/TheVoynichManuscript
A New Copy of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116: A Cavalier Cover Version
The poem is a copy of Henry Lawes’ song-setting which adds six new lines to the poem. The song-setting can also be found in NYPL Drexel MS 4257, although there are significant variations between the two copies.
By Leah S Veronese
https://academic.oup.com/res/advance-article/doi/10.1093/res/hgaf002/7997398?login=false
Researchers Unearth The Oldest Illustrated Book Ever Found, An Egyptian Map Of The Underworld
The book contained incantations for the deceased so that she could ward off evil spirits and demons in her journey toward the underworld.
By Natasha Ishak
https://allthatsinteresting.com/book-of-two-ways
Original article (free access) here:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0307513319856848?journalCode=egaa
The Mystery of the World’s Oldest Writing System Remained Unsolved Until Four Competitive Scholars Raced to Decipher It
In the 1850s, cuneiform was just a series of baffling scratches on clay, waiting to spill the secrets of the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia
By Joshua Hammer
Austen Henry Layard at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/40288
Women Played a More Important Role in Producing Medieval Manuscripts Than Previously Thought
New research suggests that women were the scribes of at least 1.1 percent of manuscripts in the Latin West between 400 and 1500 C.E.
By Sarah Kuta
A Lost Bit of the Story of Merlin and Arthur Has Been Found at Cambridge
By Molly Templeton
https://reactormag.com/a-lost-bit-of-the-story-of-merlin-and-arthur-has-been-found-at-cambridge/
You can explore the manuscript for yourself at Cambridge Digital Libraries:
https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/merlinfragment/1
Books about Merlin at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=merlin&submit_search=Search
The Voynich Manuscript revealed: five things you probably did not know about the Medieval masterpiece
Scholars have speculated for centuries about the meaning behind the 15th-century codex and its peculiar illustrations
By Garry Shaw
More information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript
Lost for 400 Years: Researcher Discover Hidden Copy of Shakespeare Sonnet
By University of Oxford
https://scitechdaily.com/lost-for-400-years-researcher-discover-hidden-copy-of-shakespeare-sonnet/
Full article by Leah S Veronese is available here:
https://academic.oup.com/res/advance-article/doi/10.1093/res/hgaf002/7997398?login=false
This 2,200-Year-Old Chinese Medical Text May Be The Oldest Human Anatomy Chart In History
By Natasha Ishak
The discovery of the text written on silk sheds light on the significant advances in medicine that led to the development of acupuncture in ancient China.
Ancient Medicine at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/4630
A 600-year-old Chaucer mystery may finally be solved
A medieval sermon packed with 'memes' and simple spelling mistakes could explain a baffling line in 'The Canterbury Tales.'
By Andrew Paul
https://www.popsci.com/science/chaucer-canterbury-tales-mystery-solved/
Cantebury Tales at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Canterbury+Tales
Spiral into the ‘golden ratio’ – and separate the myths from the maths
Named for the Italian mathematician Leonardo Bonacci (c1170-1240), the Fibonacci sequence refers to a numerical set that, usually starting with zero and one, adds the previous two integers together to arrive at the next (0,1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, etc).
https://aeon.co/videos/spiral-into-the-golden-ratio-and-separate-the-myths-from-the-maths
More information about the Fibonacci sequence:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci_sequence
Ireland’s Oldest and Largest Medieval Book Shrine Goes on Public View for the First Time
By Kate Mothes
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/06/lough-kinale-book-shrine/
Ireland at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subjects/search/?query=ireland
Armenia Is About To Put Its Ancient Manuscripts Online For Free
For many Armenians survivors, the easily hidden manuscripts were the only remnant of their nation that they were able to smuggle to safety.
By Amos Chapple
https://www.rferl.org/a/armenia-manuscripts-online-database-matenadaran-project-scans/33482728.html
Armenia at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subjects/search/?query=armenia
