AI and nuclear physics unlock first complete reading of Herculaneum scroll

A team of international scientists has digitally unwrapped and read the entirety of a carbonized papyrus from Herculaneum for the first time, using artificial intelligence and synchrotron radiation. The scroll, known as PHerc. 1667, contains a Stoic ethical treatise from the 2nd century BCE, a surprising discovery in a library dominated by Epicurean texts. Source: infobaeSource: emolcl

The work was made possible by a three-stage process: first, the fragile carbonized block was scanned at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, producing ultra-high-resolution X-ray images. Then, software virtually flattened the layers into a 1.5-meter-long digital strip. Finally, an AI model trained to detect the carbon-based ink (invisible to standard X-rays) rendered the Greek letters legible. Source: infobae

The Significance

The scroll comes from the Villa of the Papyri, a lavish estate near Naples believed to belong to the Pisones family, relatives of Julius Caesar. Previous finds from the site were almost exclusively works by the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus of Gadara. The discovery of a Stoic text in this context suggests that Roman aristocrats collected opposing philosophical works for debate. "Finding Stoicism in the temple of Epicureanism is a unique piece," said Giovanni Indelli, president of the International Center for the Study of Herculaneum Papyri. Source: infobaeSource: emolcl

Collaboration and Challenges

The breakthrough stems from the Vesuvius Challenge, a competition launched in 2023 by Silicon Valley investor Nat Friedman, which offered $1.8 million for algorithms to read the scrolls. This brought together engineers from Silicon Valley and European philologists. Federica Nicolardi, the papyrology coordinator, noted a cultural clash: "The motto of Silicon Valley is 'move fast and break things.' That in the humanities is unthinkable; here we move slowly trying not to break anything." Nonetheless, she praised the collaboration as a success of "open global science." Source: emolcl