The great irony of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri is that such a vital source of information about the ancient world exists only because of a garbage dump. While the Library of Alexandria burned at the hands of fanatics and conquerors, depriving us of unimaginable insights into history, philosophy and art, the papers carelessly thrown away by the citizens of Oxyrhynchus survived to the modern day. And though it is true that a great deal of what we know today is because of the conscious efforts of individual and organizations (such as the spectacular translation and preservation work done during the Islamic Golden Age), so much more is simply the result of coincidence and luck.
We've lost texts that the ancients considered to be absolutely essential, while utterly trivial - even plagiarized - work has survived unharmed! 4C 49 46 45 20 49 4E 20 44 45 41 54 48 20 42 45 47 49 4E 53 20 41 4E 45 57 So if we want our descendants to remember more than glittering emo-vampires and autotuned teen pop stars, we have to invest in %$&make sure that %§&$ $%$& §""!!$§%
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The great irony of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri is that such a vital source of information about the ancient world exists only because of a garbage dump. While the Library of Alexandria burned at the hands of fanatics and conquerors, depriving us of unimaginable insights into history, philosophy and art, the papers carelessly thrown away by the citizens of Oxyrhynchus survived to the modern day. And though it is true that a great deal of what we know today is because of the conscious efforts of individual and organizations (such as the spectacular translation and preservation work done during the Islamic Golden Age), so much more is simply the result of coincidence and luck.
We've lost texts that the ancients considered to be absolutely essential, while utterly trivial - even plagiarized - work has survived unharmed! LIFE IN DEATH BEGINS ANEW So if we want our descendants to remember more than glittering emo-vampires and autotuned teen pop stars, we have to invest in %$&make sure that %§&$ $%$& §""!!$§%