Most papyri I have seen look as if they had been written left-handed with a charred matchstick. This one I can actually read. Notice the accents and the consistent rough and smooth breathings. Will anyone still be able to read the works of <advert>Richard Blake</advert> after 2,500 years?
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For some reason, I can’t get rid of this. It is most annoying. It came to me in an e-mail, and I lost all common sense in the thrill of being able to read it. However, it is plainly a modern reproduction.
There is no reason why a sheet of papyrus should look moth-eaten and be faded in patches. But that is how most recovered papyrus does look. More important, the words are unabbreviated, which is unlikely for even a luxury manuscript from the ancient world. Also, the accents and rough breathings and iota subscripts were never this comprehensive in manuscripts produced before about the 8th century, when even natives required help with pronunciation of classical texts. Before then, accents were put in only to resolve ambiguities. And, whoever produced this had a tendency he couldn’t avoid to separate the words – another c8-9 innovation. Oh, and there is the use of punctuation.
The letters themselves look fourth century. Everything else is much later. I should have paid more attention. Apologies.
All this being said, Herodotus is worth reading in any language.