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In the News

A treasure hunt in the Sinai

What secrets lie in the world’s oldest library?

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Mike Toth at the Sacred and Imperial Monastery of the God-Trodden Mount of Sinai — St. Catherine’s for short — in the Sinai. He has helped assemble a global team of scientists to examine the monastery’s trove of ancient texts. In addition to preserving the texts’ legible words, the team is really after the overwritten text from centuries earlier, which had been scraped away to recycle the precious animal-skin parchment. Such erased texts are known as palimpsests.

Mark Schrope / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Since at least the 4th century, monks have lived in a valley at the base of Egypt’s Mount Horeb, which leads up to what long tradition says is the Mount Sinai of biblical fame. In the 6th century, the Emperor Justinian I called for construction of a monastery at the site. Many experts consider its collection of ancient manuscripts second in significance only to the Vatican’s huge collection in Rome.

Since at least the 4th century, monks have lived in a valley at the base of Egypt’s Mount Horeb, which leads up to what long tradition says is the Mount Sinai of biblical fame. In the 6th century, the Emperor Justinian I called for construction of a monastery at the site. Many experts consider its collection of ancient manuscripts second in significance only to the Vatican’s huge collection in Rome.

Mark Schrope / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

The monastery holds at least 130 palimpsests, all from medieval times. One of the richest sources of palimpsests has been a collection known as the New Finds, discovered in a loft. Mold and insects, the main enemies of book preservation, are not an issue in the desert; neither is humidity. And in this dry place, there are no rats to chew through pages.

The monastery holds at least 130 palimpsests, all from medieval times. One of the richest sources of palimpsests has been a collection known as the New Finds, discovered in a loft. Mold and insects, the main enemies of book preservation, are not an issue in the desert; neither is humidity. And in this dry place, there are no rats to chew through pages.

Mark Schrope / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

In St. Catherine’s modern museum: the monastery’s most famous palimpsest, the Syriac Sinaiticus, which two intrepid Scottish sisters uncovered in 1892. The overtext was stories of female saints, but the undertext, some of which they glimpsed by steaming pages apart over a tea kettle, proved to be a late-4th-century copy of the four canonical gospels written in the language Old Syriac.

In St. Catherine’s modern museum: the monastery’s most famous palimpsest, the Syriac Sinaiticus, which two intrepid Scottish sisters uncovered in 1892. The overtext was stories of female saints, but the undertext, some of which they glimpsed by steaming pages apart over a tea kettle, proved to be a late-4th-century copy of the four canonical gospels written in the language Old Syriac.

Mark Schrope / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

St. Catherine’s head librarian, Father Justin, center, and the imaging team examine materials in the archive in the monastery’s interim storage facility. Some of the manuscripts are now so fragile that they can’t be handled without specialized facilities that the monastery doesn’t yet have.

St. Catherine’s head librarian, Father Justin, center, and the imaging team examine materials in the archive in the monastery’s interim storage facility. Some of the manuscripts are now so fragile that they can’t be handled without specialized facilities that the monastery doesn’t yet have.

Mark Schrope / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Upcoming renovation of this entire monastery wing will include construction of a new library, storage rooms and advanced document conservation and imaging facilities. This will include equipment for temporarily humidifying brittle pages to prevent damage during research or imaging. Without that, some pages would crumble on contact. The space will be long enough to allow scholars to work with entire scrolls.

Upcoming renovation of this entire monastery wing will include construction of a new library, storage rooms and advanced document conservation and imaging facilities. This will include equipment for temporarily humidifying brittle pages to prevent damage during research or imaging. Without that, some pages would crumble on contact. The space will be long enough to allow scholars to work with entire scrolls.

Mark Schrope / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Michael Phelps, left, Keith Knox, center, and Mike Toth at an old well just outside the monastery walls — the only spot with a WiFi signal, compliments of one of the monks.

Michael Phelps, left, Keith Knox, center, and Mike Toth at an old well just outside the monastery walls — the only spot with a WiFi signal, compliments of one of the monks.

Mark Schrope / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

How it works: Scientists take 31 photos of each manuscript leaf, using different light wavelengths and from different angles. The layers of writing respond differently to the light. The team uses these differences to create processed images that make the erased layer legible.

How it works: Scientists take 31 photos of each manuscript leaf, using different light wavelengths and from different angles. The layers of writing respond differently to the light. The team uses these differences to create processed images that make the erased layer legible.

Mark Schrope / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Father Justin, a Texan who joined St. Catherine’s in 1996, had been working to digitize the monastery’s huge manuscript collection using standard photography for 10 or so years before the time had come to explore the collection’s hidden words.

Father Justin, a Texan who joined St. Catherine’s in 1996, had been working to digitize the monastery’s huge manuscript collection using standard photography for 10 or so years before the time had come to explore the collection’s hidden words.

Mark Schrope / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

epa03708924 Franziska (C) wears a helmet and carries a shield during the recreation of The Battle of the Teutoburg Museum in Bramsche, Germany, 20 May 2013. The everyday life of Romans and the Germanic people is depicted at Museum Park Kalkriese during the Romans and Germanic people days. EPA/Friso Gentsch

Photos of the day

Battle of Teutoburg Forest reenactment, Mars Curiosity rover drilling, massive tornado strikes Moore, Oklahoma and more.

A Burrowing owl tries to perch on a protective rope in a public park in Cooper City, Fla. Monday, May 20, 2013 as rain falls. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Fun and fascinating creatures around the world.

ANNAPOLIS, MD - MAY 20: The Herndon Monument Climb is the traditional culmination of plebe year at the United States Naval Academy. The plebes climb to the top of the lard-covered 21 foot high monument and remove the 'dixie cup' hat at the top replacing it with an upperclassman's hat. After completing this, the freshmen are called 'fourth class midshipmen.' This class completed the task in 1 hour 32 minutes and 43 seconds. The hat was placed by Patrick Lien from Orlando. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

The Herndon Climb

The Herndon Monument climb is the traditional culmination of plebe year at the U.S. Naval Academy.

This combination of Associated Press photos shows left, a neighborhood in Moore, Okla., in ruins on Tuesday, May 4, 1999, after a tornado flattened many houses and buildings in central Oklahoma, and right, flattened houses in Moore on Monday, May 20, 2013. Monday's powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the region in May 1999. (AP Photo)

Okla. tornado loosely followed path of 1999 twister

Monday’s powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the area in May 1999.

Lea Bessinger salvages a picture of Jesus as she and her son Josh Bessinger sort through the rubble of the elder Bessinger's tornado-ravaged home Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Moore, Okla. A huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb Monday, flattening an entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Tornado near Oklahoma City causes more damage

Rescue workers are searching for survivors after a twister carved a long path of destruction in a suburb of Oklahoma City. It was part of the...

FILE - In this undated publicity file photo, members of the Doors, from left, John Densmore, Robbie Krieger, Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison, pose for a portrait. Manzarek, the keyboardist who was a founding member of The Doors, has died at 74. Publicist Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald says in a news release that Manzarek died Monday, May 20, 2013, at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family. (AP Photo, File)

Ray Manzarek, founding member of the Doors, dies at 74

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US actress Rosario Dawson smiles on May 20, 2013 as she arrives for the screening of the film 'Wara No Tate' (Shield of Straw) presented in Competition at the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. Cannes, one of the world's top film festivals, opened on May 15 and will climax on May 26 with awards selected by a jury headed this year by Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg. AFP PHOTO / ALBERTO PIZZOLIALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images

Eye on entertainment

Rosario Dawson, Alec Baldwin, Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Bow Wow, Amy Poehler and more.

A man walks on sulphur and mineral salt formations near Dallol in the Danakil Depression, northern Ethiopia April 22, 2013. The Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is one of the hottest and harshest environments on earth, with an average annual temperature of 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.4 Celsius). For centuries, merchants have travelled there with caravans of camels to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin. The mineral is extracted and shaped into slabs, then loaded onto the animals before being transported back across the desert so that it can be sold around the country. Picture taken April 22, 2013. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola (ETHIOPIA - Tags: BUSINESS SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 2 OF 30 FOR PACKAGE 'ETHIOPIA'S ANCIENT SALT TRAIL'
SEARCH 'DANAKIL DEPRESSION' FOR ALL

Ethiopia’s salt trail

For centuries, merchants have traveled to Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression with caravans of camels to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin. The mineral is extracted...

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