A unique investigation into bigotry. The cagots were a group of people now widely forgotten, whose story is full of seemingly unwarranted discrimination. Staffan Scheutz attempts to find a discernible rationalisation for the systemised hatred that the cagots experienced through investigating a variety of claims, including religious affiliations, a supposed history of leprosy, and a distaste towards their profession(s). Demonstrating the flaws in each argument, Scheutz concludes that “[b]y the time people started justifying their hatred in the 1500s, any knowledge of its origin was long since lost.” Read full article here
Research
Researcher uses AI to make texts that are thousands of years old readable
The Gilgamesh Epic, the oldest work of world literature, has been brought back to life by LMU researchers in the Electronic Babylonian Literature project. Using their new Fragmentarium tool, they have discovered hundreds of manuscripts, including the most recent tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic which dates from 130 BC – thousands of years after the earliest known version. This shows how highly valued the Epic was, even at a late period. With the public release of the Fragmentarium, anyone can now explore the thousands of cuneiform fragments and explore the ancient Babylonian literature. Read full article here
Merv
March 12, 2023
