AI just helped researchers read a 2,000-year-old Mount Vesuvius scroll thats too charred to ever be opened as X-ray images reveal ancient stoic philosophy

Date:
Thu, 25 Jun 2026 19:28:57 +0000

Description:
Researchers are getting new insights into life and literature from the first century, via previously inaccessible text.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter The Vesuvius Challenge is decoding scrolls hit by the 79 AD eruption Another scroll has just been partially read by AI This is despite the scroll being rolled up and severely burned Look at the ancient PHerc 1667 scroll, recovered from the ancient
Roman town of Herculaneum that was smothered by the Mount Vesuvius eruption
of 79 AD, and you'd think there wasn't much chance of finding out what was written on it. It's rolled up, burned and blackened, and impossible to open
up without destroying most of it.

However, using the latest AI techniques, researchers from the Vesuvius Challenge project (via The Guardian ) have now been able to read 20 columns
of sealed-off text, describing the stoic philosophy that was much discussed
at the time and how it relates to ethics, art, and human behavior. Here's
how it works: without needing to open up this scroll and others like it, a combination of X-rays and AI algorithms can be used to recognize subtle differences between papyrus fibers locked away in the charred manuscript.
That tells researchers where the ink is. Latest Videos From Watch full video here:

Further AI processing can identify and fill out fragments of lettering, and suggest possibilities for what might be missing. It's then left to human researchers to read through and interpret what the writing actually means an approach that has seen multiple successes since the Vesuvius Challenge launched in 2023. Digging into the texts AI and human researches combine forces to decode the texts (Image credit: Vesuvius Challenge) Experts think that PHerc 1667 may actually date from two or three centuries before Mount Vesuvius erupted, making it an intriguing look into the ancient past. The
same cloud of fire and ash that enveloped Herculaneum also (and more
famously) covered Pompeii, though the two towns were preserved in quite different ways. You may like Claude helped recover $400,000 in Bitcoin lost for more than a decade Stonehenge was built by guys in hard hats if you believe AI slop AI used to 'revive spirit' of Moilre and spawn a new sharp satire

Researchers working on the project say the scroll is one of many thought to
be housed inside a library, and part of a luxury Roman villa. Before now, the scroll has already been broken in half it now measures just 8 cm (3.15 inches) in length and part of it has disintegrated from previous attempts to tease it open.

Each new discovery reveals more about the scroll collection as a whole, including how these texts relate to each other and who authored them. An initial analysis suggests this particular scroll may have been written by the Greek philosopher Chrysippus, a prominent member of the stoic school. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

"People now know that this can be done and now we're exploring what [the texts] actually mean," one of the research team, computer scientist Professor Brent Seales from the University of Kentucky, told The Guardian . "For me that's the World Cup. I just won the World Cup: that's my victory." Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. The best laptops for all budgets
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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/ai-just-helped-researchers-r ead-a-2-000-year-old-mount-vesuvius-scroll-thats-too-charred-to-ever-be-opened -as-x-ray-images-reveal-ancient-stoic-philosophy


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