Scientists virtually unroll ancient Herculaneum scrolls
A papyrus scroll that was burned and carbonized when Mount Vesuvius erupted almost 2,000 years ago has been virtually unrolled and partially deciphered with the help of artificial intelligence, reports BritPanorama.
The scroll — named PHerc. 1667 — is one of hundreds from the ancient Roman town of Herculaneum, which was buried under volcanic debris when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, according to the Vesuvius Challenge, an initiative focused on decoding the texts of the Herculaneum scrolls without needing to physically unroll them.
Preserved under mud and ash in a villa believed to have once been owned by the father-in-law of Julius Caesar, the scrolls were discovered by an Italian farmer in the 18th century. This collection is the only large-scale library known to have survived from classical antiquity.
Burned so badly they were carbonized, the scrolls are extremely fragile. Over the years, scholars have tried to unroll them using a range of methods, including weights, chemicals, gases, and pulverization, though this often led to damage or destruction.
The Vesuvius Challenge was launched by Brent Seales, a computer science professor at the University of Kentucky, and entrepreneurs Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross in 2023 to encourage researchers worldwide to try to decipher the scrolls by virtually unwrapping and decoding them.
Virtual unwrapping begins with a CT scan of each coiled-up, warped papyrus. Researchers follow the curved layers in the scan, then virtually flatten the scrolls and explore them using advanced AI trained to identify ink on the page.
Numerous developments have emerged, but this latest one — announced at a conference in Naples, Italy, on Thursday — is regarded as a “historic breakthrough” by those involved.
For the first time, scientists have succeeded in fully unwrapping one scroll, revealing an area measuring almost 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) of text across 20 columns.
“For nearly two millennia, many of these texts have been physically preserved but intellectually inaccessible,” Seales said in a statement published on Thursday. “Today — after years of interdisciplinary work combining advanced imaging, artificial intelligence (AI), academic research, and an innovation contest — we are finally able to read them.”
Federica Nicolardi, assistant professor in papyrology at the University of Naples Federico II, has led a team of papyrologists in creating machine learning models and interpreting the text from the scrolls. “This scroll was deemed completely unreadable when part of it was opened in the 1980s,” Nicolardi stated.
“While a few isolated letters were visible, overlapping layers obscured the writing, and the scroll was assigned a readability score of zero. But now, with virtual unwrapping, we can follow sustained arguments across multiple columns. That’s a transformational shift.”
Nicolardi added: “The scroll’s handwriting and internal references suggest the artifact dates from the second century BC or possibly from the late third century BC — making it one of the oldest scrolls in the collection.”
According to Nicolardi, PHerc. 1667 is the only surviving part of a formerly complete scroll. It is about 8 centimeters (3.2 inches) in height — less than half the size of a typical scroll — and about 2 centimeters (0.8 inches) in diameter. Records show it was largely intact when discovered, but attempts to unfurl it over the years damaged it and reduced it in size.
The text appears to be a philosophical discussion of ethics, arts, and human behavior, probably reflecting Stoic thought, the researchers say.
The newly translated text includes the line: “We will inquire into something, but we will not grasp it, if in some way we depart from ourselves and from our own nature.”
The team also announced a discovery inside the scorched layers of another scroll, PHerc. 139. Researchers were able to read the words: “Philodemus, On Gods, Book 8.” This establishes for the first time that “On Gods” was a series of at least eight books by the Greek philosopher, previously only the first book was known.
These discoveries represent the latest in a series of revelations stemming from the Vesuvius Challenge.
In May last year, the title and author of the PHerc. 172 scroll were deciphered as “On Vices” by Philodemus. In October 2023, the first full word from one of the unopened ancient papyri was decoded with the help of computer technology and advanced AI. The project now stands at a critical juncture, according to Seales.
“This is no longer just about imaging or machine learning,” he stated. “Now we need experts who can read, edit, and understand what they are saying.”
