Expert: Ralph Salier - 9/17/2011

Question
Hello, Ralph.

I am currently working on a novel and wish the archaeological aspect to be as authentic as possible, and would greatly appreciate your professional opinion.

In the opening scene an earthquake takes place in Alexandria, Egypt, unearthing the foundation of the ancient Library of Alexandria. While excavating, the foundation of the Library of Alexandria is discovered along with a hidden room beneath the foundation with scrolls/codex. Now, how would it be possible for papyrus scrolls and cuneiform tablets (from the time of Noah) be able to have survived the fire that destroyed the library long ago? How would the items have to be preserved? In what? Would the find be better preserved beneath the ground or beneath the ocean? I need the discovery to be readable. How can I make this possible?

I look forward to your response and thank you for your time and help!

Respectfully,
Jennifer

Answer
Hi Jennifer,

I'm sorry about answering this question late.  I've been dealing with a death in the family.

The Library was near the coast and during one of several earthquakes and ensuing conflagrations, the library was destroyed and is now under water much like the light house.  However,  there were two annexes to the library.  These were also destroyed by these can be "discovered" and in fact are being searched for.  Their exact locations are currently unknown.  

So, lets look at what you have proposed.  It is possible that a structure like the library annex could be found with or with out an earthquake. It is possible that during the earthquake, a "basement" room or rooms are found and these could indeed contain codices or papyri scrolls. However, clay tablets would be highly unusual especially from Mesopotamia or Ur.  I am not aware of anything like that ever being found at any site in Egypt.  However, there is no reason that your archaeologist shouldn't make such a monumental discovery.   Just remember some of the cuneiform scrips have not been translated as yet and the oldest ones are still something of a mystery.

How would they have survived the cataclysmic events?  So long as the chamber was sealed, dry and not exposed to moisture of any type, then it is well within the realm of possibility that papyri and codices could have survived easily. The heat and dry air preserves nearly every thing.  And since these would not have deteriorated in any way, they would still be readable and so long as translations exist, can still be read.

In what?  Storage of and "curation of" scrolls back then generally means that they were wrapped in linen or leather and stored rolled on special shelving made up of diamond shaped boxes.  They would have been stacked no more then half way up the diamond and a descriptive "sign" would have hung above them so that they could be found. They were generally grouped together for simplicity.  The annexes were used to house "obsolete" documents or copies of documents and copies of key treaties or other more formal documents.

The annexes were small, perhaps no more then 100 square feet (10 x 10) or perhaps a bit larger.  Once a copy was placed into these storage facilities, they were forgotten unless an urgent need sent a researcher to find the copy.  

How is this for a start?  If you have more questions, please don't hesitate to ask.  Also don't forget to mention my assistance in the acknowledgements if you use any of this.