Those who live vicariously through Indiana Jones will be happy to have it away that a squad of Israeli archaeologists has uncovered a cryptic message bequeath on a3,000 - yr - old clayware sherd . The ink - on - clay piece of pottery — call an ostracon — was originally expose in the 1960s , in a urban center Mae West of the Dead Sea call Tel Arad . Now , using raw applied science in multispectral imaging , researchers at Tel Aviv University have been able to illuminate text that ’s been hiding on the ostracon all these eld .
M of days ago , Tel Arad was amilitary outpost , so it make signified that the “ front ” of this finicky ostracon detailed military finances . The back , however , appear blank . But after revisiting the ostracon using experimental multispectral tomography technique , the team at Tel Aviv University was able to show the reverse was full of text edition — and like all good messages , it was about wine .
“ The novel inscription begins with a request for wine-colored , as well as a warrant for assistance if the addressee has any requests of his own , ” the study ’s co - author Arie Shaus , of the university of Tel Aviv ’s hold mathematics department , toldBreaking Israel News . “ It conclude with a petition for the provision of a certain trade good to an unidentified someone , and a note regarding a ‘ bathing tub , ’ an ancient measurement of wine , carry by a adult male named Ge’alyahu . ”
The team ’s enquiry , which has beenpublishedin PLOS One , details their singular method acting . They used a modified Canon SLR 450D digital camera and a Tamron SP AF90 mm F/2.8 Di 1:1 Macro lens to photograph the ostracon in a glum room .
“ The internal Canon IR cut filter was removed by Lifepixel and replaced with transparent glass having the same deflective power , ” the mathematical group wrote . Using an regalia of filters , the team was eventually able-bodied to reveal the hidden subject matter .
Hopefully , this Modern proficiency can be used to read the hide messages on other ostraca . Who knows what good scriptural gossip we ’ve been drop out on after thousands of years .
[ PLOS One ]
ArchaeologyHistoryScience
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