Image: 2nd-century CE Sanskrit, Kizil China, Spitzer Manuscript folio 383 fragment recto and verso

Description: The Spitzer Manuscript is the oldest surviving philosophical manuscript in Sanskrit, and quite possibly the oldest Sanskrit manuscript of any type related to Buddhism and Hinduism discovered so far. It was discovered in 1906 in the form of a pile of more than 1,000 palm leaf fragments in the Ming-oi, Kizil Caves, China during the third Turfan expedition headed by Albert Grünwedel. The calibrated age of the manuscript by Carbon-14 technique is 130 CE (80–230 CE). The text is written in the Brahmi script (Kushana period) and some early Gupta script. The text was written on both sides of the palm leaf (recto and verso). It is named after Moritz Spitzer, whose team first studied it in 1927–28. The fragments are now in two libraries: the State Library of Berlin and the British Library The above image of fragment from folio 383. The Roman transliteration of the Sanskrit in the first line of the recto side is: ... ceta.. tasma... dattaphalo hetur nastity ayuktam... The Roman transliteration of the Sanskrit in the first line of the verso side is: ... [pa]kasah tasmad asma(d)vipaksapratipaksas... For more details and scholarly discussion see: Eli Franco (2004), The Spitzer Manuscript: The Oldest Philosophical Manuscript in Sanskrit, Volume 2, Verlag Der Österreichischen Akademie Der Wissenschaften, pages 461–465 This is a photograph of a manuscript from the 2nd-century, and PD-Art guidelines of wikimedia commons apply. Any rights I have as a photographer, I herewith donate to wikimedia commons under CC 4.0.
Title: 2nd-century CE Sanskrit, Kizil China, Spitzer Manuscript folio 383 fragment recto and verso
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Author: Ms Sarah Welch
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