An international team of linguists and computer scientists has announced the successful decipherment of a 1,200-year-old Siddham script palimpsest housed in a Japanese monastic archive. Published in Digital Humanities Quarterly, the research used advanced AI neural networks to reveal underlying layers of text containing lost Sanskrit treatises focused on torsional mechanics and structural tension.
The text, which appears to have been carried to Japan by medieval Buddhist scholars, outlines mathematical principles for calculating the shearing stress in timber and stone beams. These academic breakthroughs offer a rare technical look at the engineering logic that underpinned the massive temple complexes of the 8th century, showcasing a bridge between theoretical physics and practical civil engineering in ancient India.