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AI-Assisted Decipherment of 9th-Century 'Siddham Script' Palimpsests Unveils Lost Sanskrit Treatises on Ancient Indian Geomorphology

📅 April 9, 2026 📰 Digital Humanities Quarterly
AI-Assisted Decipherment of 9th-Century 'Siddham Script' Palimpsests Unveils Lost Sanskrit Treatises on Ancient Indian Geomorphology

Researchers at the International Institute for Manuscript Research have utilized advanced AI spectral imaging to recover text from 9th-century Siddham script palimpsests found in a remote Himalayan archive. The recovered passages belong to a previously unknown Sanskrit work detailing the geomorphology of the Indo-Gangetic plain, including early theories on river avulsion and soil erosion patterns.

The text, titled Bhumi-Parivartana, describes historical shifts in the course of major rivers and categorizes mountain terrains based on mineral content and seismic stability. Experts believe this find will revolutionize our understanding of how ancient Indian scientists observed and recorded environmental changes over long temporal scales.

Original source: Digital Humanities Quarterly