The Derveni Papyrus, an ancient Greek papyrus roll considered Europe's oldest surviving readable manuscript, was recently inscribed (Oct 6) on the Memory of the World International Register as the oldest 'book' of Europe, following the decision by the International Advisory Committee of UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme. 

Considered the most important discovery for Greek philology in the twentieth century, the papyrus was found accidentally in 1962 during a public works project in an uninhabited place about 10 km from Thessaloniki, and it is now preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki. 

It remained illegible for nearly two and a half millennia and was decoded in 2006. It is a philosophical treatise on the nature of the gods, cosmogony, the theory of the soul, and the nature of religious rituals. According to UNIESCO, the text is of global significance, in that it reflects universal human values, such as the need to explain the world, the desire to belong to a human society with known rules and the agony to confront the end of life. 

Announcing the inscriptions, the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova noted that the purpose of the Programme‎ is to "preserve documentary heritage and memory for the benefit of present and future generations in the spirit of international cooperation and mutual understanding, building peace in the minds of women and men".

See also: The Derveni Papyrus: Nomination for the Memory of the World Register (2014); The Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies Symposium on the Derveni Papyrus (2014); The Derveni Papyrus. Edited with Introduction and Commentary