How Archaeologists Discovered Europe’s Oldest-Known Book, Revealing Never-Before-Seen Insights Into Ancient Religion and Philosophy

On January 15, 1962, archaeologists in Greece were excavating the tomb of a Macedonian nobleman near Thessaloniki when they uncovered something incredible. Amid the ashes of a funeral pyre, encased in burnt mud, was a papyrus scroll—the first to be found in mainland Greece. Dating of the document and the discovery its literary nature subsequently led UNESCO to declare it Europe’s oldest book.

The Derveni Papyrus, named for the location where it was found, is believed to date to between 340 and 320 B.C.E. In the manuscript it copies, which was likely written near the end of the fifth century B.C.E., the author discusses religious practices related to the fate of the soul after death and delivers a treatise on a poem ascribed to Orpheus, the hero poet and musician of Greek mythology.

Richard Janko, a classicist at the University of Michigan, has called the papyrus “the most important new piece of evidence about Greek philosophy and religion to come to light since the Renaissance.” But, he adds, “It is also the hardest to understand, and all work on it is inevitably work in progress.” This is largely due to the fact that the fire that preserved the papyrus—saving it from the deterioration usually caused by the humidity of Greek soil—also destroyed it.

“There were pieces that were completely blackened, and nobody could make out whether there were letters on them,” archaeologist Polyxeni Adam-Veleni, then-director of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, which houses the papyrus, told the Associated Press in 2006.

When researchers carefully peeled apart the scroll, they collected approximately 266 fragments. They ultimately pieced the fragments into 26 surviving columns of text, all with their bottom halves burned away. A relatively complete version of the text would not be published until nearly 50 years later.

Scholars disagree on the potential author of the work, but the mystery author seems to have been a follower of the philosopher Anaxagoras. The book’s audience seems to be prospective religious initiates of Orphism, the cult that followed the teachings of Orpheus.

Though many of their practices remain unknown, Orphics are believed to have been monotheistic. They abstained from eating meat and focused on purity, reflecting Anaxagoras’ teachings that the soul survives after death and only the pure will be saved. Orphism’s parallels with Christianity make the papyrus an especially interesting window into the spiritual practices emerging in the area at the time.

Philosophy of the Orphic Mysteries - The Derveni Papyrus - Myth of Orpheus and Ancient Greek Science

Watch on

In addition to the religious insights the papyrus offers, the author’s interpretation of a now-lost Orphic poem reveals information about Greek philosophical thought of the era. In the treatise, the author writes that the poem, which pertains to the birth of the gods, should be taken as an allegory rather than literally. The anonymous author’s argument includes references that show how several Greek philosophers understood the physical world.

As technology improves and allows better reading of the manuscript, scholars continue to debate the content of the document and how the fragments should be put together in the hopes of gaining even more insight into Hellenic religion and philosophy of the time.

As Janko writes, “There is much at stake in attempting to solve the puzzle of this papyrus.”

Teresa Nowakowski | | READ MORE

Teresa Nowakowski is a print and multimedia journalist based in Chicago. They cover history, arts and culture, science, travel, food and other topics.