Abstract

The large cache of scrolls from Herculaneum were opened to scholars in spite of and because of the destruction of the volcano and damaging unfurling techniques. The fragments inherited have been studied closely by scholars. Digitization and technological work on the Herculaneum papyri, including the important infrared imaging completed by BYU in the early 2000s, and the 3-D imaging and inchoate virtual unwrapping technology by EduceLab, have amplified and aided scholarship on the scrolls and will continue to do so. P.Herc. 817 is a unique Latin text within the collection that has been heavily studied by scholars due to its fascinating subject matter on the Battle of Actium and Cleopatra and its readability. This fragment serves as a case study to demonstrate the value of each set of digital images in transcription and interpretation research, which suggests at the value of the varying digital images for other Herculaneum fragments. I closely compare digital surrogates of P.Herc. 817 including the early 2000s infrared images, 1960's era negatives, and recent 3-D images with the original artifacts as seen at the Biblioteca Nazionale in July 2023. This autopsy of versions of P.Herc. 817 substantiates the need for scholars to use all available digital images in concert with the original papyri when doing scholarly work. It also reinforces the need for digital stewardship and preservation of each distinct image set. Finally, a hypothetical case study is offered to show the loss to scholarship if the digital images and originals were lost and solely secondary sources remained. Each image set offers value and captures a moment in time of the papyri. As technology continues to progress and excitingly unlocks unseen papyri, care needs to be taken to safeguard and digitally preserve the new along with the older data sets.

Degree

College and Department

Humanities; Comparative Arts and Letters

Rights

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