Ancient Lives: Scholars Ask For Help To Decipher Ancient Greek Letters

(EndPlay Staff Reports) - Wanted for scholarly research: An armchair archeologist with a knack for solving puzzles for a century-old translation challenge.

If the above listing sounds like your dream job, you and other would-be Sherlock Holmeses are in luck. Researchers from Oxford University are seeking help unraveling mysterious Greek symbols scrawled on ancient papyri, unearthed in 1896 from an Egyptian trash pile dating back more than 2,500 years. According to a report from the U.K.’s Daily Mail , users can access the cryptic manuscripts online and user pattern-recognition tools and brainpower to help scholars decipher the texts.

The project has been dubbed Ancient Lives, and can be accessed at www.ancientlives.org/transcribe .

Project leader Dr. Chris Lintott told the Daily Mail that only two percent of the 200,000 documents found have been gone through and analyzed. So far, scholars have uncovered documents including receipts, letters and even “gossip.” Some researchers also believe the papyri include a “lost gospel,” with stories about Jesus.

Citizen scientists are invited to get started with the project via the new website and make contributions to the research.

For more information or to get involved, check out www.ancientlives.org/transcribe .