palimpseste

A palimpseste, or palimpsest, is a manuscript page from which the original writing has been scraped, washed, or otherwise erased so that the surface can be reused for another text. The term comes from the Greek palimpsestos, meaning “scraped again,” formed from palin (again) and psao (to scrape). Palimpsests are typically created on parchment or vellum, materials that were expensive and scarce in antiquity and the Middle Ages, making reuse common when new texts needed to be produced.

Historically, palimpsests arose when scribes in late antiquity and medieval Europe needed to conserve writing materials. The erased texts were often religious, legal, or literary works inscribed over or beneath later writings. Over time, the underlying script can remain faint or partially legible, depending on how thoroughly the surface was cleaned and the ink used.

Reading the underlying text has become a scientific discipline. Modern methods such as multispectral imaging, infrared and ultraviolet photography, and other noninvasive probes allow researchers to enhance and sometimes recover erased writings that are not visible to the naked eye. These techniques have revealed ancient texts and fragments long considered lost, contributing to the study of classics, theology, and ancient science.

Notable palimpsests include the Archimedes Palimpsest, which preserves Archimedes’ original mathematical treatises beneath a later Christian text and has been illuminated by advanced imaging. Other palimpsests are held in libraries and archives worldwide, illustrating how the practice of reuse has shaped the transmission and discovery of historical texts.

In modern usage, palimpsest also describes any object or place with layered, overlapping histories or texts, a metaphor employed in literary and cultural analysis.