The Derveni Papyrus has recently been inscribed as one of the works for protection within the Memory of the World Register by UNESCO. Named as the ‘Most Ancient Book in Europe,’ the history of the text’s discovery and decoding is almost as interesting as the content contained within. When the papyrus was discovered by chance in Derveni (near Thessalonika), Greece in 1962 the document was badly charred. It was not until 2006 that the text was decoded and the allegorical commentary and ancient religious teachings it included came to light and caused more questions and controversy to arise.
