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The length of a scroll: Quantitative evaluation of material reconstructions
Scholars have used mathematical models to estimate the missing length of deteriorated scrolls from ancient Egypt, Qumran, Herculaneum, and elsewhere. Based on such estimations, the content of ancient literature as well as the process of its composition is deduced. Though theoretically reasonable, ma...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2020
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7577460/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33085684 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239831 |
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author | Ratzon, Eshbal Dershowitz, Nachum |
author_facet | Ratzon, Eshbal Dershowitz, Nachum |
author_sort | Ratzon, Eshbal |
collection | PubMed |
description | Scholars have used mathematical models to estimate the missing length of deteriorated scrolls from ancient Egypt, Qumran, Herculaneum, and elsewhere. Based on such estimations, the content of ancient literature as well as the process of its composition is deduced. Though theoretically reasonable, many practical problems interfere with the method. In the current study, the empirical validity of these mathematical models is examined, showing that highly significant errors are quite frequent. When applied to comparatively intact scrolls, the largest contribution to errors is the subjectivity inherent in measuring patterns of damaged areas. In less well preserved scrolls, deterioration and deformation are more central causes of errors. Another factor is the quality of imaging. Hence, even after maximal reduction of interfering factors, one should only use these estimation methods in conjunction with other supporting considerations. Accordingly, past uses of this approach should be reevaluated, which may have substantial implications for the study of antiquity. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7577460 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2020 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-75774602020-10-26 The length of a scroll: Quantitative evaluation of material reconstructions Ratzon, Eshbal Dershowitz, Nachum PLoS One Research Article Scholars have used mathematical models to estimate the missing length of deteriorated scrolls from ancient Egypt, Qumran, Herculaneum, and elsewhere. Based on such estimations, the content of ancient literature as well as the process of its composition is deduced. Though theoretically reasonable, many practical problems interfere with the method. In the current study, the empirical validity of these mathematical models is examined, showing that highly significant errors are quite frequent. When applied to comparatively intact scrolls, the largest contribution to errors is the subjectivity inherent in measuring patterns of damaged areas. In less well preserved scrolls, deterioration and deformation are more central causes of errors. Another factor is the quality of imaging. Hence, even after maximal reduction of interfering factors, one should only use these estimation methods in conjunction with other supporting considerations. Accordingly, past uses of this approach should be reevaluated, which may have substantial implications for the study of antiquity. Public Library of Science 2020-10-21 /pmc/articles/PMC7577460/ /pubmed/33085684 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239831 Text en © 2020 Ratzon, Dershowitz http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Ratzon, Eshbal Dershowitz, Nachum The length of a scroll: Quantitative evaluation of material reconstructions |
title | The length of a scroll: Quantitative evaluation of material reconstructions |
title_full | The length of a scroll: Quantitative evaluation of material reconstructions |
title_fullStr | The length of a scroll: Quantitative evaluation of material reconstructions |
title_full_unstemmed | The length of a scroll: Quantitative evaluation of material reconstructions |
title_short | The length of a scroll: Quantitative evaluation of material reconstructions |
title_sort | length of a scroll: quantitative evaluation of material reconstructions |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7577460/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33085684 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239831 |
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