AI reads entire ancient scroll from Herculaneum for first time, revealing lost Stoic philosophy

AI Achieves Breakthrough in Reading Vesuvius Scrolls

Researchers working with the Vesuvius Challenge have accomplished what seemed impossible just years ago: reading an entire carbonised Herculaneum scroll without physically opening it 1

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. The scroll, known as PHerc. 1667, was among hundreds of documents destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, burying both Herculaneum and Pompeii 2

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. Using AI and high-resolution phase-contrast X-ray microtomography performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in France, the team has digitally unrolled ancient Roman scrolls and extracted nearly all the text, making it legible for the first time in nearly 2,000 years 3

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How Machine Learning Transforms Digital Archaeology

The breakthrough relies on a technique called Volume Cartographer, pioneered by Brent Seales, a professor at the University of Kentucky who has spent decades developing methods to decipher ancient documents 1

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. This approach takes 3D scans of manuscripts layer by layer, then flattens them into 2D images that can be read. The scans use synchrotron scanners—massive particle accelerators that beam high-power X-rays at objects, revealing inner layers down to the atomic level. Machine learning has accelerated the process dramatically by detecting subtle differences between papyrus fibers and ink on charred papyrus, building label sets far more effectively than manual methods 1

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. AI coding agents also enable the research team to test new techniques much faster than traditional programming would allow.

Non-Invasive Ancient Text Recovery Unlocks Lost Philosophy

The newly readable scroll contains 1.5 meters of text across 22 columns, exploring ethics, arts and human behavior through the lens of Stoic philosophy 2

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. Dated to 200-300 BC, it represents the oldest Herculaneum scroll yet unwrapped 4

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. Federica Nicolardi, lead papyrologist for the Vesuvius Challenge, notes that the scroll's nephew of Greek Stoic philosopher Chrysippus is mentioned, making Chrysippus himself "the most natural candidate for authorship" 2

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. Chrysippus is regarded as one of the architects of Stoicism, but almost all his work was lost to history. According to Thomas Coward at the University of Bristol, having access to source text rather than quotes and summaries "is very important," likening the discovery to uncovering lost works by Isaac Newton or Albert Einstein 2

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Unlocking Historical Artifacts From Villa of the Papyri

The scrolls come from the Villa of the Papyri, the world's only surviving intact library from antiquity, discovered in 1752 3

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. Some 400 papyrus scrolls remain intact, and more than 600 unopened scrolls await decoding 1

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. The villa is presumed to have belonged to Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, Julius Caesar's father-in-law, who sponsored works by the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus 2

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. Among the newly identified texts is "On Gods, Book 8" by Philodemus, extending his previously known work to at least an eight-book series 1

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. Another scroll revealed 70 columns from "On Vices, Book 1," also attributed to Philodemus 4

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Vesuvius Challenge Accelerates Ink Detection Technology

Nat Friedman, former CEO of GitHub and one of the Challenge's main backers, announced that the team would place all data, code and models online and offer a $1 million prize to the first person or team to read any other scroll in full 4

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. The Vesuvius Challenge has already awarded $1.8 million in prizes, including a $700,000 grand prize in early 2024 to Luke Farritor, Youssef Nader and Julian Schilliger for recovering passages from scroll PHerc.Paris.4 3

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. The new higher-resolution images taken at 2 micrometres make words directly visible for the first time, providing independent confirmation of earlier algorithmic detections 3

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. Nicolardi reported that progress is accelerating rapidly—researchers recently unwrapped the full length of one scroll in just 24 hours, producing about 140 columns of new text, compared to uncovering only 10% of columns until recently 4

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What This Means for Understanding Ancient Worlds

The ability to read these scrolls matters because it transforms our access to ancient thought. Nicholas Freer at the University of Newcastle calls the findings "extraordinary progress" that could "radically transform" our understanding of ancient worlds 2

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. "What we're seeing now isn't just a single, spectacular breakthrough. We're witnessing the beginning of what could be a decades-long process of recovery," Freer notes. Seales believes the technology has reached a turning point: "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. Today we have shown you that that is possible. I believe we're going to read every single one of the scrolls in the collection" 4

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. Large parts of the villa remain unexcavated, raising the possibility that more scrolls could yet be found 4

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. As Seales puts it, the focus is shifting from proving the technology works to "restoring the lost voices" and discovering what the scrolls actually reveal about philosophy and ancient life 2

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