Science News
Ancient psalter unearthed in Irish bog
By DPA
Jul 26, 2006, 11:52 GMT

Dublin - A collection of biblical psalms believed to be more than 1,000 years old has been unearthed in an Irish bog, Irish news reports said Wednesday.

The psalter, already described by some experts as Ireland's Dead Sea Scrolls, was uncovered by a bulldozer during construction work and was described by National Museum of Ireland director Pat Wallace in the Irish Times as 'of staggering importance.'

'In my wildest hopes, I could only have dreamed of a discovery as fragile and rare as this. It testifies to the incredible richness of the early Christian civilization of this island and to the greatness of ancient Ireland,' Wallace said.

The leather-bound vellum manuscript could be up to 1,200 years old, and its survival was a 'miracle,' according to Wallace.

The only text identified so far on the manuscript is from Psalm 83 which 'ironically in the current political climate' speaks of God's enemies plotting to wipe out Israel, the Irish Examiner reported.

Irish church historians and archaeologists have so far been unable to explain how the psalter ended up in the bog in the southern Irish Midlands, but some experts think the psalter may have lost when the owners were moving or hidden in the bog during a raid.

The farmer on whose land the psalter was suddenly unearthed on Thursday last week immediately informed museum staff who removed the document for conservation in the capital Dublin.

The psalter is expected to go on display once conservation works have been completed.

Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism John O'Donoghue told national broadcaster RTE that the psalter 'testifies ... to the responsibility of the present generation in the preservation of our unparalleled legacy from the past.'