AI and particle accelerator help read entire ancient scroll from Herculaneum

Researchers announced Thursday that artificial intelligence combined with a particle accelerator has allowed them to virtually unwrap one complete ancient scroll and recover substantial text from others. The scrolls were found in the 18th century during excavation of a villa in Herculaneum, a town buried along with Pompeii by the 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

The 1,800 papyrus rolls were carbonized and too fragile to unroll physically.

Technology and process A particle accelerator identified faint traces of ink on the scrolls. Artificial intelligence then produced virtual unwrappings that preserved the original structure while revealing the writing. The University of Kentucky's Stanley and Karen Pigman School of Engineering led the work in partnership with the Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli Vittorio Emanuele III.

scroll, PHerc. 1667, has been fully unwrapped.

Researchers recovered more than 70 columns of text from a second scroll and identified two previously unknown books from ancient Rome. The work also produced enough continuous text to support new scholarly editions. One newly revealed book shows that the philosopher Philodemus wrote an eight-book series, of which only one volume had been known before.

"For nearly two millennia, many of these texts have been physically preserved but intellectually inaccessible," Brent Seales said in a news release. " "Today, we are hearing voices that have been silent for 2,000 years," Seales said.

Giorgio Angelotti, a project lead with the Vesuvius Challenge, said the effort is ongoing and that archaeologists need additional help to read the remaining scrolls. Seales said he believes the entire library can be deciphered with continued work by experts who can read, edit, and interpret the texts.