The past never ceases to surprise us with its captivating and often eerie elements. One such enigmatic and unsettling artefact from history is an ancient Latin manuscript uncovered in Kazakhstan, with a cover fashioned out of human skin. What’s even more intriguing is that only a fraction of its pages have been decrypted to date. This manuscript has piqued the interest of scholars and researchers for years, yet it remains shrouded in mystery.
The manuscript, believed to have been penned by a notary named Petrus Puardus from northern Italy in 1532, comprises 330 pages, out of which only ten have been decoded thus far. The Rare Publications Museum of the National Academic Library in Astana has had the manuscript on display since 2014, after it was donated by a private collector.
Möldir Tölepbay, an expert in the Science Department of the National Academic Library, has stated that the book was bound using an obsolete bookbinding technique called anthropodermic bookbinding, which involved using human skin in the binding process.
A thorough scientific investigation has been carried out on the cover of an ancient manuscript, revealing that it was crafted using human skin. To gain a deeper understanding of the manuscript, the National Academic Library has sent it to a specialized research institute in France for further analysis.
Although the first few pages of the manuscript appear to contain information on financial transactions, such as mortgages and credit, the overall content of the book remains shrouded in mystery. The National Academic Library is home to a vast collection of nearly 13,000 rare publications, including books that have been fashioned from a variety of materials, such as snakeskin, precious stones, silk fabric, and golden thread.
The manuscript’s content and the reason for using human skin as the cover remain largely unknown, with only a small portion of the text having been deciphered. This discovery sheds light on the practices of the past and the use of human remains in historical artifacts. It is crucial that efforts continue to decode the manuscript, as it has the potential to unveil invaluable insights into the past. This artifact is of significant importance and serves as a testament to the rich cultural heritage of Kazakhstan.
