Fascinating story here by Wired on a new Google-like database that can read ancient documents.
Researchers in Israel say they have developed a computer program that can decipher previously unreadable ancient texts and possibly lead the way to a Google-like search engine for historical documents.
The program uses a pattern recognition algorithm similar to those law enforcement agencies have adopted to identify and compare fingerprints.
But in this case, the program identifies letters, words and even handwriting styles, saving historians and liturgists hours of sitting and studying each manuscript.
By recognizing such patterns, the computer can recreate with high accuracy portions of texts that faded over time or even those written over by later scribes, said Itay Bar-Yosef, one of the researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
“The more texts the program analyses, the smarter and more accurate it gets,” Bar-Yosef said. (Continue)