Definition of palimpsest
pal´imp`sest
Pronunciation:
păl´ĭmp`sĕst
n.
1.
A
parchment
which
has
been
written
upon
twice
,
the
first
writing
having
been
erased
to
make
place
for
the
second
.
The
erasures
of
ancient
writings
were
usually
carried
on
in
monasteries
,
to
allow
the
production
of
ecclesiastical
texts
,
such
as
copies
of
church
services
and
lives
of
the
saints
.
The
difficulty
of
recovering
the
original
text
varied
with
the
process
used
to
prepare
the
parchment
for
a
fresh
writing
;
the
original
texts
on
parchments
which
had
been
washed
with
lime-water
and
dried
were
easily
recovered
by
a
chemical
process
,
but
those
erased
by
scraping
the
parchment
and
bleaching
are
difficult
to
interpret
.
Most
of
the
manuscripts
underlying
the
palimpsests
that
have
been
revived
are
fragmentary
,
but
some
are
of
great
historical
value
.
One
Syriac
version
of
the
Four
Gospels
was
discovered
in
1895
in
St
.
Catherine
'
s
Monastery
at
Mount
Sinai
by
Mrs
.
Agnes
Smith
Lewis
.
See
also
the
notes
below
.
Related Words
holograph
,
manuscript
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