AI Begins Decoding Ancient Scrolls Charred During the Eruption of Vesuvius
The University of Kentucky in the UK has announced that it has managed to decipher a word on a 2000-year-old scroll from the ancient Roman city of Herculaneum, which, like Pompeii and Stabia, was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This news was published by the university on its website.
Computer science professor Brent Seals, who has been studying the Herculaneum papyri for more than two decades, noted that these artefacts are witnesses to an era when ‘world religions were emerging, the Roman Empire still existed, and many territories remained undiscovered.’
In 2002, he decided to start researching the text of the scroll, which was almost intact but badly charred. From then on, he began a long process of creating an artificial intelligence programme capable of deciphering the words of the scroll without having to physically unwrap it.
On one of the pages of the scroll, the Greek word πορφύραc was found, which translates to ‘purple paint’ or ‘purple clothes’. This word was deciphered by the participants of the Vesuvius Challenge, a competition for machine reading of Herculaneum papyri, Luc Faritor and Yousef Nader. The word was written on the scroll's wrapper.
To confirm the discovery, experts evaluated each letter. The members of the commission, representing the countries that own the Herculaneum Scrolls (England, France and Italy), were impressed by the results.
‘This scroll remained untouched for centuries, which allowed us to preserve its contents in perfect condition. The uniqueness of the Herculaneum Library lies in the fact that the preserved texts are not known from other sources,’ commented Federico Nicolardi, Associate Professor of Papyrus at the University of Naples Federico II.
She hopes that in the near future, researchers will be able to read more words from this scroll, identify its theme and possibly identify the author.
The two undiscovered scrolls, owned by the Institut de France in Paris, are part of a collection of hundreds of scrolls found in Herculaneum back in the 1750s. These scrolls are believed to have belonged to the Roman statesman Lucius Calpurnius Pisonus Caesoninus, the father-in-law of Julius Caesar.
Despite being buried in the ground for more than 1700 years, the papyri have been preserved by being buried under a layer of solid volcanic dirt, water and gases, and then dried and charred.
Teams deciphering these scrolls using the latest technology are taking part in a competition with a top prize of USD 700,000. The prize will be awarded to the team that is the first to decipher four passages of text from the inner layers of the scrolls by the end of 2023. There are also other prizes for progress, including $50,000 for accurate ink detection on papyrus and 3D X-ray scanning. The competition is ongoing.