Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Iranian Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf: Amid Israeli aggression on Damascus, we assert that Iran always stands on the side of the Syrian people.
US Embassy in Syria: Barrack and Abdi discussed practical steps toward integration into a unified Syria and agreed that the time for unity has come
US Embassy in Syria: US Special Envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack met today with the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi
US Embassy in Syria: Barrack-Abdi meeting discussed the current situation in Syria and the need to take urgent steps to restore stability
Al-Hijri: We call on the guarantor states of the ceasefire agreement to fulfill their pledges to halt this attack and impose direct international protection for the Druze of Syria
Al-Hijri: It is unfortunate and shameful that the other party is not abiding by the ceasefire and that the hostile gangs continue to commit shameful crimes
Spiritual Leadership of the Druze Unitarian community, headed by Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri: We call on the guarantors of the ceasefire in Sweida to shoulder their responsibilities
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: One was killed in the raid carried out by an Israeli drone on a motorcycle in the town of Yohmor al-Shaqif
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: 62 martyrs killed by IOF in Gaza since morning, including 32 aid seekers.
Reuters: More than 20 injured in Los Angeles, including four critically, after a car rammed into a crowd

Lost star catalog found on pages of medieval manuscript

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Arts Newspaper
  • 25 Oct 2022 15:37
3 Min Read

A passage from the writings of the ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus had been wiped out and rewritten.

  • x
  • A multi-spectral image of a page of the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, showing the erased Greek text in red under the Syriac text in black  Courtesy Museum of the Bible Collection. All rights reserved. © Museum of the Bible, 2021.
    Courtesy of the Museum of the Bible Collection - This multi-spectral image of a page from the Codex Climaci Rescriptus displays the erased Greek text in red underneath the Syriac text in black. (Museum of the Bible, 2021)

A long-lost star list has been discovered on the pages of a medieval manuscript by researchers. The erased text, copied in the 5th or 6th century AD, contains portions from the work of Hipparchus, the ancient Greek astronomer.

“These are the first known excerpts to come directly from Hipparchus’s star catalog. They illustrate the precision of Hipparchus’s measurements,” says Victor Gysembergh, a French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) research professor and one of the authors of the paper, published in the Journal for the History of Astronomy.

The concealed text provides the coordinates of the constellation Corona Borealis, defining its stars' positions in the sky, as well as the constellation's overall length and breadth. Although Hipparchus is not named in the text, the positions of the stars correspond to measurements made approximately in 129BC, when the famed Greek astronomer lived.

The discovery is remarkable because Hipparchus' work has virtually gone, with his star catalog only known through later authors' writings.

“Ancient authors gave such puzzling indications that the very existence of Hipparchus’s star catalog was open to question,” Gysembergh says.

Related News

Astronomers discover universe’s brightest object

Galactical explosion 10 times brighter than any previously observed

“None of its content was thought to have survived to the present day. It is the first time that we are able to read some of its content, thus confirming its existence and providing unprecedented insights into the ‘observatories’ of Hipparchus and his successor Claudius Ptolemy.”

Researchers uncovered the fragment from Hipparchus' lost book while studying the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, a manuscript from the 9th or 10th century AD. Scribes repurposed previous parchment pages to construct this codex, erasing its original content but leaving the earlier text visible beneath the words—documents reused in this manner are known as palimpsests.

Multispectral photography was utilized by experts to improve these weak fragments and uncover the Greek text.

The codex was initially stored in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula at Saint Catherine's Monastery. The majority of its pages were sold between 1895 and 1906 and traveled through several hands before arriving at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. One sheet wound up in Birmingham, England, while others are still in Sinai.

“It is truly awesome to be part of such a discovery, which was made possible by teamwork with remarkable colleagues from fields as far apart as engineering, computer science, and paleography,” Gysembergh says.

“It sends shivers down my spine to think of all the other texts that are waiting to be discovered in other palimpsests.”

  • Astronomy
  • Greek mythology

Most Read

Algerian nurse stabbed in Germany

Murder of Algerian nurse in Germany sparks outcry, demands for justice

  • Europe
  • 14 Jul 2025
Credible reports, including some from Israeli media itself, indicate that Tel Aviv had pinned its hopes on what can only be described as a delusional plan. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Jebraily: Iran strikes rewrote regional deterrence rules - Exclusive

  • MENA
  • 15 Jul 2025
Al-Qassam Brigades fighters confront Israeli soldiers in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

3 Israeli soldiers killed amid Gaza battles: Israeli media

  • Palestine
  • 14 Jul 2025
Donald Trump, the Corporate Aristocracy and the Israelization of the World

Donald Trump, the Corporate Aristocracy and the Israelization of the World

  • Opinion
  • 15 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Senator: Israeli plan for US support to displace Palestinians ‘sick'
Politics

Dem. Senator slams Israeli push for Gaza expulsion as 'sickening'

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa, center, and other clergymen gather at the Church of St. George Al Khidr on Monday, days after an arson attack at the site reportedly by Israeli settlers. (AFP - Getty Images)
Politics

Christians under Israeli settler fire in Jesus native Palestinian soil

Smoke from Israeli airstrikes on the northern Gaza Strip, on Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP)
Politics

650 days of Israeli war: 125,000 tons of bombs; 2,613 families effaced

Gaza Health Ministry: Starved Palestinians face imminent death
Politics

Gaza MoH issues warning: Starved Palestinians face imminent death

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS