Scientists Use AI to Read Ancient Scrolls Buried by a Volcano.
Scientists are using artificial intelligence (AI) and human expertise to read ancient scrolls that were burned and buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted 2,000 years ago.
The scrolls were discovered in the 1750s in the ruins of a luxurious Roman villa in Herculaneum, a town destroyed along with Pompeii in A.D. 79. These scrolls, stored in what is known as the Villa of the Papyri, could provide valuable knowledge about ancient history. However, they are so fragile and charred that trying to physically open them causes them to crumble.
For over 250 years, scholars have tried different methods to decipher the scrolls, most of which are kept at the National Library of Naples.
In 2023, tech leaders launched the “Vesuvius Challenge”, offering prize money to teams who could use AI and advanced technology to read the scrolls.
On Wednesday, the challenge organizers announced a major breakthrough—researchers created the first image of the inside of one of the scrolls stored at Oxford University’s Bodleian Library.
Brent Seales, a computer scientist from the University of Kentucky and co-founder of the challenge, called it a huge success. He said the new scan shows more text than ever seen before in a Herculaneum scroll.
The breakthrough was made possible by Diamond Light Source, a research lab near Oxford. Scientists used a powerful X-ray machine, called a synchrotron, to scan the scroll. Then, AI helped put together images, find the hidden ink, and improve the text’s clarity. This created a 3D virtual version of the scroll, allowing researchers to “unroll” it digitally using a process called segmentation.
So far, only a few words have been read, including the ancient Greek word for “disgust”. But scholars are optimistic and are being encouraged to help complete the text.
Peter Toth, a curator at the Bodleian Library, said this is just the beginning of a long journey. He hopes better images will be created to improve text readability.
He also suggested that instead of moving fragile scrolls to Diamond’s lab, scientists could develop a portable scanning technology. This would help in studying the 1,000 more scrolls stored in Naples without moving them.
