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Researchers have achieved the first complete reading of a carbonized scroll from Herculaneum, virtually unwrapping PHerc. 1667 using AI and advanced imaging, revealing over 1.4 meters of text. Source: gizmodo
The scroll, burnt to a crisp by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, was scanned with high-resolution X-rays and then virtually flattened. Machine learning algorithms detected subtle ink traces on the papyrus, enabling papyrologists to transcribe the text without physical unrolling. Source: CNN The complete text spans 22 columns and discusses Stoic philosophy, including ethics and human behavior. Source: The Guardian
PHerc. 1667 is one of hundreds of scrolls from the Villa of the Papyri, the only large-scale library surviving from classical antiquity. The scroll dates to the second or late-third century BC, making it one of the oldest in the collection. Source: CNN Researchers suggest the text may be a work by the Stoic philosopher Chrysippus, referencing his nephew Aristocreon. Source: The Guardian However, some sources note the author remains uncertain, with other attributions to Philodemus. Source: CNA
The breakthrough is part of the Vesuvius Challenge, a global competition launched in 2023 to encourage AI and machine learning approaches. Co-founder Brent Seales stated that "we're going to read every single one of the scrolls in the collection." Source: CNA The project has already awarded $1.8 million in prizes. The data and models will be made open-access, with a $1 million prize for the first to read another scroll in full.
“Just a year ago it would have been crazy for any of us to believe that there would be a complete scroll read completely non-invasively with hundreds of columns of text.”
“For nearly two millennia, many of these texts have been physically preserved but intellectually inaccessible.”
“I believe we're going to read every single one of the scrolls in the collection.”
“At first, we were saying this could be an Epicurean talking about stoic doctrine... But then I stopped and said, you know, if this was found outside of Herculaneum, we would categorise it as a stoic work.”