Per 
Item #: SCP-5348
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures:
SCP-5348 should be kept in a cell that is 3 meters tall, 5 meters wide, and 15 meters long. SCP-5348 should be placed 13 meters from the adjoined observation room and connecting door, to ensure its neurological properties do not affect unintended subjects. SCP-5348 should be placed on a 1.2 meter tall table made of solid bronze. Under no circumstances is SCP-5348 authorized for removal from this table or its containment cell.
Description:
SCP-5348 is a primitive bound book, with a faded black leather cover and several dozen sheets composed of organic material. Both components have been examined and appear to be crafted from human skin. Though SCP-5348 has been confirmed to be of extreme age, it is bound in a fashion consistent with early twenty-first century hardbacks. The cover of SCP-5348 is seemingly featureless, but its pages are covered in cryptic symbols that seem to be written in blood, both likely human in origin. These symbols begin as indecipherable etchings, but as the pages progress, the writings seem to as well. The final three pages are the most recognizable to the modern eye, with the first containing what appears to be hieroglyphics and the writing on the second entirely composed of roman numerals. The final page is written in what is concluded to be an early seventh-century Arabic dialect, and the final sentence of said page is written in modern English. Thus far, the final sentence of the final page remains the only understandable portion of SCP-5348, as the rest of its contents continue to stymie Foundation linguistic historians.
The final sentence reads as follows: [Data Expunged] - cognitohazard: definite memetic agent
Properties
SCP-5348 produces an extremely strong neurological effect on any complex organism within a roughly 10 meter radius. This effect is described as a sudden, overwhelming, and persistent unease, an acute awareness of SCP-5348’s presence, and an unwillingness to turn one’s back on the book. While for most, this effect remains stable at the levels described above, those with anxiety disorders and those who suffer from certain forms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have heightened reactions to the book’s neurological influence. There have been several recorded incidents of mental breakdowns among researchers with these traits. As such, Foundation personnel are required to undergo psychological evaluations, as well as medical background checks, prior to working with SCP-5348. Despite the generally fearful reaction it draws from intelligent life, SCP-5348 is not hostile, and almost no physical casualties of any kind have been caused by the book.
SCP-5348 has an additional visual anomaly associated with it. When viewed through any form of human technology, including optical enhancers, its pages appear blank, devoid of any symbols. The Foundation recommends personnel personally inspecting SCP-5348 possess excellent eyesight, though this is not required when investigating the book’s material properties, which can be examined with advanced optical technology, undisturbed by visual anomalies.
Addendum:
The hieroglyphics found on the first of the final three pages appear visually similar to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, though efforts to draw functioning links between the two have failed. The conclusion reached by foundation researchers is that these probably belong to a civilization that existed in the proximity of ancient Egypt. The first thirty-sixth pages of SCP-5348 remain unintelligible, and carbon dating puts the age of the book at around 80,000 years old, though this number is not taken seriously by some researchers. Further testing is underway.
SCP-5348 has been given the nickname of “Ur-text” by Foundation historians, in reference to its extreme age.
Second Addendum:
Additional information has been provided upon inspection by Dr. [Redacted, different doctor]
Below are excepts from the notes of Researcher[Redacted], who worked with SCP-5348 from [Redacted] to [Redacted]
Roman numerals have no discernible pattern. When treating all numerals as part of one number, said number is impossibly large, but organizing into any other grouping is entirely arbitrary.
When D-class subjects turn to the twenty-ninth page of SCP-5348 and encounter the unique drawings of that page, they frantically finger through the other pages, before breaking down in tears and shaking, begging to be let out. After removal from the containment cell, D-class subjects eventually returned to a normal state, but retained no memories of page twenty-nine. Later examinations performed by D-class subjects of enhanced mental resilience resulted in little illumination, though one of these subjects, D-11159 was able to speak before collapsing.
The following is an audio excerpt from Test-017, [Redacted date]:
D-11159: Complains of chest pain and dizziness, begins to sweat profusely and doubles over as if to throw up, then in a sudden calm, and in a clear voice “It is hateful to me… to tell a story over again, when it has been well told.”
D-11159: Subject gasps, falls to the ground with a groan, and begins choking
D-11159 was evaluated after Test-017 and was determined to have suffered a severe panic attack, similar to other D-class subjects exposed to page twenty-nine of SCP-5348.
_
UPDATE [Date]: Certain sections of SCP-5348 have been designated as memetic agents. As SCP-5348 must be read personally, further interactions with SCP-5348 have been suspended, pending solutions.
UPDATE [More Recent Date]: New primary interest designation is the age and lifetime of non-linguistic components. Examination of SCP-5348 to resume in 96 hours, all relevant personnel to wear safety glasses; non-negotiable.
