X-ray scans reveal Buddhist prayers inside tiny Tibetan scrolls

Summary

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. A delicate, antique Buddhist scroll crafted by Mongolian nomads has finally been unfurled after spending decades in museum storage. But the team at Germany’s Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) research institute didn’t risk any damage by physically unrolling it—they peered inside using a combination of 3D X-ray tomography and AI assistance. The process, as well as what they found written inside, are detailed in a study published in the Journal of Cultural Heritage. For centuries, the nomadic peoples of Mongolia owned only what they and their pack animals could carry. For Buddhist families, this often included a gungervaa, a portable shrine containing artwork, decorative objects, and other spiritual keepsakes. Some of the most notable items were dharanis—tiny, tightly rolled scrolls featuring common prayers wrapped in silk that generally measured no more than 1.9 by 0.7 by 0.7 inches. The tradition was almost entirely wiped out during the Soviet-backed Mongolian Revolution of 1921, with many of the artifacts destroyed in the process. One shine survived the era, and although its origins are unclear, the relic ultimately arrived at Germany’s Ethnological Museum of the National Museums in 1932. Much to conservationists’ dismay, the shrine is no longer arranged as it was when it entered the archive. After being disassembled for storage, some items were damaged during World War II, and four gilded bronzes and a small painting have disappeared entirely. Nonetheless, over 20 objects–including fabric flowers and statues–are still preserved at the Ethnological Museum, along with three small dharanis in yellow silk bags. Each scroll was wrapped in a yellow silk pouch. Credit: Journal of Cultural Heritage Scanning at sub-volume levels Until only a few years ago, accessing the scrolls required archeologists to extract and unroll the delicate papers without compromising the material...