The Jubilees Palimpsest Project: Digital Archaeology Tools for Discovery and Access to Previously Illegible Manuscripts

The Jubilees Palimpsest Project is working to advance technologies for the recovery of text from illegible manuscripts through the phases of capture, processing, access, and scholarly collaboration. The project takes its name from the only copy of Latin Jubilees, which is joined by the only copies anywhere of the Testament of Moses and an Arian commentary on the Gospel of Luke. After the successful imaging of these erased texts in January of 2017, the scope of objects of interest broadened to other significant palimpsests at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, such as Origen’s Hexapla and a fourth-century translation of biblical books into Gothic. A long-term plan to systematically digitize illegible manuscripts is underway. A major advance in capture and processing technology created by the project is Spectral RTI, which combines the advantages of spectral imaging in color processing with the advantages of RTI in texture and interactivity. The addition of texture imaging can aid the recovery of text—for example if now-missing ink left an outline of corrosion on the surface of the parchment—and much more information about scribal practices from the creation and use of the manuscript