It is true that some of the ancient ideas still have value today. Or at least they are the foundation for the modern ideas that have value. It is also very likely that some of the “lost works” may contain “facts and ideas that might have value today”, beyond the obvious historical interest. It is much less likely that those ideas contain insights never again achieved and preserved. After all, almost every idea has been invented and reinvented time and again. We could indeed “push harder” to recover these lost works, but an evaluation of knowledge gained per dollar spent would likely show that this is an inefficient way to spend money compared to alternative ways of gaining knowledge. This should be easily testable: look through the ancient works discovered in the last 100 years or so and check which lost-and-found insights were new and interesting.
It is true that some of the ancient ideas still have value today. Or at least they are the foundation for the modern ideas that have value. It is also very likely that some of the “lost works” may contain “facts and ideas that might have value today”, beyond the obvious historical interest. It is much less likely that those ideas contain insights never again achieved and preserved. After all, almost every idea has been invented and reinvented time and again. We could indeed “push harder” to recover these lost works, but an evaluation of knowledge gained per dollar spent would likely show that this is an inefficient way to spend money compared to alternative ways of gaining knowledge. This should be easily testable: look through the ancient works discovered in the last 100 years or so and check which lost-and-found insights were new and interesting.