I have a bit of a reputation around the office as a history geek. Luckily, working in a tech-focused agency, geekery of one kind or another isn’t that uncommon so I’m in good company.
It’s not often though, that my fascination with dusty bits of pottery and the like overlaps with my day-job, so imagine my excitement when I came across this newly-launched online social collaboration initiative from Oxford University and the Egypt Exploration Society. Finally, a chance to live the Indiana Jones life without having to get my clothes dirty!
Ancient Lives is a joint venture run by a number of groups specialising in papyrology (the study of ancient manuscripts written on papyrus). Its mission is to translate the more than 500,000 fragments of papyrus found at the archaeological site of Oxyrhynchus (meaning ‘place of the sharp-nosed fish’) in Egypt, 160km south of Cairo.
To most people, Oxyrhynchus doesn’t rank among the great and famous sites of ancient Egypt, but to historians it’s very special. The papyrus cache found here in the early 1900s was one of the largest collections of Greek manuscripts (finds date from the 1st to 6th centuries AD) ever found. Among the documents that have been translated so far are previously unknown texts from Greek literary giants including Plato, Sophocles, Sappho and Thucydides.
However, due to the enormous volume of papyrus, much of it still remains unread. And that’s where the online community can help. Ancient Lives is asking for volunteers to help go through the remaining papyri online to transcribe the Greek text and measure the fragments, for later analysis by experts. Clear instructions are provided and participants don’t need to have any prior knowledge of Greek, so it’s open to everyone.
This project tickled me not only because of the potential historical discoveries that could be brought to light, but also because it’s creating new ways of leveraging the power of the social web. We talk a lot about the business implications of social media use and its value as a collaborative tool, and it’s refreshing to see this being applied to other areas.