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Researchers Reveal Ancient Philosophical Texts From Vesuvius Scrolls
Scientists used AI to recover texts from carbonized scrolls buried in Herculaneum by the A.D. 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The texts include discussions on ethics and human behavior by previously lost authors. A new $1 million prize was announced for deciphering a full scroll by June 2027.
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Researchers from the University of Kentucky and the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli revealed recovered texts from ancient scrolls on Thursday, NBC News reported. The texts contain philosophical discussions on ethics, the arts, human behavior and theology by authors previously lost to history. One text includes a warning by an unknown author against excessive impulse.
The hundreds of carbonized papyrus scrolls were buried in Herculaneum by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. They were rediscovered three centuries ago in the ruins of a villa believed to have belonged to Julius Caesar’s father-in-law.
Researchers have read only 10 percent of the scrolls so far. A breakthrough occurred in 2023 when three students used machine-learning algorithms to extract ancient Greek letters from a virtually unwrapped scroll and won a $1 million prize. Gianluca del Mastro, professor of papyrology at the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, said the process now yields full texts instead of one phrase per month.
Brent Seals, a computer science professor at the University of Kentucky, said the words shrink the distance to classical culture. “They were worried about living a good life and understanding the world,” he told NBC News. On Thursday the University of Kentucky announced a new $1 million prize for anyone who deciphers a complete scroll by June 2027.
Approximately 600 badly carbonized scrolls remain intact at the National Library in Naples.
